Life among Space Pirates
by Castiel-Fan
Summary: My very first longfic about a young Peter Quill and his life among the Ravagers. Please check out Chapter 1 for the full summary, since the summary can't fit in here ;).
1. Chapter 1

_**First things first.  
I DON'T OWN GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY! ALL RIGHTS BELONGS TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS OF THE MOVIES!**_

This is my very first Guardians of the Galaxy longfic.  
This was originally planned as a one shot, later I wanted to write only three parts and now this has become a longfic with much more than 3 chapters.  
I have a lot of fun writing this and I hope you will have as much fun reading it.

 _ **Full Summary:**  
The world of the young Peter Quill can't be more messed up. First he has to witness the cruel death of his mother and shortly thereafter he is abducted by a gang of nefarious space pirates, who keep him with them. The boy doesn't know why they keep him, or what they want from him, because each one of them wraps himself in silence. Even one and a half year after the abduction, he still can not settle properly on the huge spaceship of the Ravagers and he is still scared of most of the crew. But the ship's Captain, Yondu Udonta, is trying to make it better, but that's not so easy when you can call a dark past your own and have a heart of ice in your chest. But every ice can melt and Yondu feels how it already started to melt and how he unknowingly closes the Terran boy more and more in his not so cold pirate heart..._

I hope you like it and again sorry for grammer/spelling mistakes.  
English isn't my first language and since I translate this from german into english, there will be some mistakes.  
 **And I would appreciate feedback in the form of a comment very, very much.  
Comments keep my motivation up to keep updating**.  
 **I see no comments at all as a sign that you have no interest and if there is no interest, I am not going to update this fic,  
let alone translate the other chapters. ****It's on you ;)**

* * *

 **Life among space pirates**

 **Chapter 1**

Exhausting combat training here, weapon training there and if you didn't do it right, you were yelled at directly.

And then the punishments, if you did something wrong...

Peter had imagined life among space pirates a little differently.

Gritting his teeth, he knelt there on the floor in the middle of a huge room that was supposed to serve as some sort of kitchen and where the crew members of the Eclector gathered, when they wanted to eat something that Peter still had nightmares about. But if he thought the crew was weird, the food was even weirder...if you could even call it food in the first place...

He quickly banished these thoughts and instead he tried to focus on his work, which consisted of scrubbing the floor. A really humiliating job, especially considering that Peter didn't do anything wrong to deserve this punishment, that had been imposed on him here. It had all started with a small provocation from one of the crewmembers and the provocation had become a fierce quarrel that Peter had lost in the end. He hated being labeled as a coward and so he had wanted to prove that he was not scared of the Ravager, who had mocked him so meanly, but his plan had backfired on him, because he hadn't had the slightest chance to defend himself and he had been lucky that Yondu had come through the door in this very moment. Peter didn't even want to think of what would have happened, if Yondu hadn't entered the room just in time...

Yondu had been able to settle the dispute quickly...in his own way of course. A targeted blow against the jawbone of the Ravager had been sufficient to settle the quarrel. And then he had turned to Peter and the boy still shuddered when he remembered the piercing and ice cold gaze the Centaurian had given him. Shamefully, he had turned his face away from the captain and his cheeks had almost caught fire, as the rest of the Ravagers, who had been standing around him at the time, had started to laugh at him. He had felt tears rising in his eyes, but he had managed to hold them back. Had he also started to cry like a little baby in front of them...they would have mocked him for the rest of his life and he didn't want to look even weaker than he already was.

In the end, Yondu had led him out of the common room, telling him to be more cautious in the future and simply swallowing the provocations and not responding to them, before he had led him into the kitchen and given him this humiliating task.

And here he was now, scrubbing the floor for what felt like an eternity by now.

Fortunately, he was all alone here, because it would have been unthinkable if there were others in the room that would have made fun of him again. But Yondu had apparently locked the door and made sure that Peter was undisturbed and at the same time didn't walk alone through the huge spaceship and started the next trouble.

Anyway, Peter didn't understand why Yondu had taken him from earth, when he was just annoyed with him. At least he thought that...

A soft sigh escaped his throat and for a moment he put down the rag that had been given to him and he sat down on one of the metal chairs that stood in the big room. He was done with his work anyway and would just wait for Kraglin or Yondu to come and get him out of here.

As he sat there, enjoying the silence around him, his thoughts went back to his beloved mother and again he felt hot tears rising in his eyes. He missed his mother about everything and when he thought about it, he never had the time to mourn her. After she had died, Yondu had taken him from earth and since then he had never really had time to think about what had happened on earth. But now, that he was sitting here, lonely and alone, the grief rose in him and it rolled over him like an all-consuming tidal wave and he couldn't manage to hold back his tears any longer. There was no one here who could have seen him cry anyways and so he let out all his pain, all his grief and all his anger.

Within seconds, the tears rolled down his cheeks, which he had held back for so long and his sobs broke the silence around him, but he didn't care. He just wanted to go home, wished he could turn back the time, wished he could throw himself back into his mother's arms, the way he always used to, when he was scared, or when he had felt bad. But she was not there anymore. She was gone and she would never come back and this thought made more tears flow and it felt like his heart would be torn into little pieces. The boy buried his face in his hands and sobbed into them.

He felt as lonely as he had never felt it before in his life.

He had no home, no more family and no friends.

He was all alone in this cruel galaxy...

While Peter was giving in more and more to his grief, he didn't know at the time that he had been under surveillance for some time, because there were cameras all over the Eclector, with the exception of the room where the Captain himself slept, to keep an eye on the crew.

Yondu sat silently in front of the many screens and his red eyes were focused on the screen that showed Peter. There was no emotion to be seen on his face, as he looked with an almost blank look at the boy, who had buried his face in his hands and sobbed heartbreakingly. At least, it looked like there was no emotion to be seen on Yondu's face, but if you looked more closely, you could see his expression change. Where severity was usual visible, his features softened and a look appeared in his eyes that was otherwise not there. As if he felt sorry for the boy. As he saw Peter sitting there in that moment, weeping and desperate and scared, a feeling spread through Yondu's body that he had never felt before: compassion.

Yes, he felt sorry for the boy and he should be damned, would he deny that there was not something about the little Terran which he liked. The kids, which he had previously picked up and which he had brought to Ego had been so different from Peter and he had never built a bond with them, because he had never spend much time with them. He'd just done his job, until the day he found out what Ego did to his children. By this time, Peter had been the only living descendant of the Celestial, but Yondu had vowed to never deliver him to a monster like Ego was, because he knew the cruel fate that would await Peter then.

The boy didn't know the real reason why Yondu had taken him from earth and he wouldn't tell him, fearing that Peter would tell anyone else about it and he didn't want to think about what would happen if his crew got wind of it too. No. He would keep this secret to himself, so he continued to act as if Peter didn't mean much to him. At least that's what he was trying to do, but often he'd caught himself spending a little too much time with the Terran and enjoying that time a bit too much...

Even though he tried to deny it so much, Peter had grown dear to him in all the time he lived on the Eclector. Of course, he was strict with him whenever the other Ravagers were present, for he had a reputation to lose and was not allowed to show weakness, but there were times when he dropped the masquerade for a few moments. In those moments, the dreaded, brutal space pirate became a veritable softie. A thought, that made the corners of his lips twitch dangerously upwards. So far, only Kraglin knew that he liked Peter more than he wanted to admit it and often the first mate teased him about it whenever he was alone with him. Fortunately that didn't happen too often. Kraglin was going pretty far with his teasing these days. Maybe he should also teach him a little lesson?

If he thought about it, he exterior of the ship could use a good cleaning and he knew that he had a few space suits lying around here, so this wouldn't be a problem to let Kraglin clean the ship, while they were in space...

A wide grin spread over his face, but soon it disappeared again, when his eyes went back to Peter, who was still sitting all alone in the caboose and crying his eyes out of his head. And Yondu couldn't take this sight any longer, so he decided to do something about it.

He got up and left the room with the surveillance monitors and made his way to the caboose, to pay the boy a little visit...


	2. Chapter 2

_And here is chapter 2._  
 _I hope ya'll like it :)_

 _I am sorry for the long wait this time.  
I had to take a break from this site for quit some time, but now I am back and I try to update this a bit faster now._

 _Hope you still enjoy this story^^_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Slowly his feet moved over the metal floor.

A light flickered in front of him, making the corridor look even more sinister. But Yondu was not scared. He had already given away such feelings a long, long time ago. Or at least he thought so, but deep inside he knew he was just repressing all his feelings. You couldn't shake feelings off...unless you were a robot...or a cyborg...then maybe it would be possible to get rid of any feelings.

He shook his head to banish those thoughts and he quickened his pace a little.

On his way, he met no one, which was perhaps better for him, because no one had to see it, how he paid Peter a small visit. It would only set off the rumor mill anyway and he wanted to avoid that at all costs, so he made sure that no one else was present and could watch him, before he pressed the button that led into the caboose and only seconds later the heavy metal door closed behind him.

As Yondu entered the dimly lit room, he found Peter sitting at one of the tables, his face buried in his arms, which he had folded onto the table and a soft sob cut the silence. The cleaning utensils, which he had previously given him, lay carelessly beside him on the floor and a sigh poured over the Captain's lips.

But he had to admit, as he looked around briefly: The caboose had never been so clean before...

He had almost grinned at this thought, but he kept himself from doing so and slowly he approached Peter and the boy flinched, when Yondu gently put his hand onto his shoulder and when he looked up, it felt like a sword blade cutting through Yondu's heart. The boy's eyes were red and tears rolled down his flushed cheeks and he desperately tried to suppress his sobs, but failed at that.

The Centaurian wanted to say something, but no word left his lips. He just stared at the Terran and the boy stared back at him, crying, until he couldn't stand his gaze anymore and he turned his face away from him.

"What do you want? Did you come here to make fun of me? Or to punish me even more? I scrubbed your stupid floors! What else do you want from me?"

The boy's voice trembled, clearly showing Yondu how much he tried to regain control over his feelings and not to show his "weakness" in front of him, but he didn't succeed. And how should he do this? The little one was not even ten Terran years old. He was still a small child, not a warrior who managed to hide his feelings. And if Yondu was honest, he didn't want Peter to be like him...or any of the other Ravagers. Everyone on this ship had their own terrible story to tell and each of them had learned to hide his true feelings from prying eyes. Everyone did this in their own way. Some wrapped themselves in silence, others put on a hard facade and others hid their feelings behind anger and violence. And Yondu wanted to prevent that Peter would turn into such a monster too.

He was still a kid and he was supposed to behave like one!

Therefore, the Centaurian decided to take the boy to his quarters, because they urgently needed to talk privately. Whether the boy liked it or not. He didn't care. Therefore, he grabbed the shoulder of the little Terran and turned him gently, but still determined around on his chair, so that he had to look at him, but Peter continued to turn his face away from him, which made Yondu growl softly and he grabbed his chin with his free hand and forced his head back.

"What's wrong with ya? Why are ya crying?" he asked, his voice sounding stern and almost cold. Something he didn't intend to do, but it was all so new to him and it was hard for him not to let the brutal space pirate hang out when he was alone with Peter. He immediately regretted his keen tone, as he saw Peter flinching from his harsh words and how more tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Leave me alone!" the boy growled and he tried to free his face from his grip, but he couldn't and so he just closed his eyes defiantly.

Yondu took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves down.

Had he been told how difficult that would be...

No, he would have kept Peter with him despite everything.

He just had to get used to it and he had to give himself time.

He let go of his face and Peter thought he had won, but the moment he opened his eyes, he saw Yondu reaching out to him and a startled outcry broke out of his throat, as the Ravager just grabbed him under his arms, picked him up and then threw him over his shoulder.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing? Let me go! Immediately!" he hissed, pounding his fists against Yondu's back again and again, but the pirate wasn't bothered by that in the slightest.

"If ya want to hurt me, ya have to come up with something better, kid," he said and Peter thought he could hear the hint of a small grin in his voice, which only fueled the fire of rage in his belly, but he could squirm and beat him as often as he wanted to.

Yondu didn't let go of him.

They stepped through the door and out into the dark corridor and Yondu headed towards his quarters. On the way they met some crewmembers, who looked after them, chuckling evilly. Apparently, they thought that Yondu was bringing the kid to his quarters to give him a proper beating. Spiteful bastards!

Still, Yondu couldn't deny that he was feeling slight remorse, because he was not entirely innocent and he didn't like remembering the first combat training sessions. He'd beaten Peter up pretty hard at the time, leaving many bruises and wounds on his small body, because he had fought with him, as he had done it when he had to fight in the Kree's battle arenas so many years ago. But even that was in the past now and the combat training wasn't as hard as before. Still, it was still too hard for Peter, because he could barely fight back or block his attacks, no matter how much Yondu tried to teach him. The boy didn't want to fight, but he had to. The galaxy was cold and merciless and if you couldn't fight, you would die in the stars. Yondu would train with him until Peter could defend himself; whether he wanted it or not!

But today he wouldn't be thinking of something like that.

No, today the Ravager just wanted to know what was wrong with him, even if he could already imagine the reason for Peter's grief.

When they arrived at the captain's quarters and stepped inside, Yondu locked the door behind him, so no one could come in and interrupt them and he just threw Peter onto his bed. Then he grabbed a chair, turned it over and sat down on it, resting his arms on the back of the chair. Silently, he looked at Peter, as he sat up and coldly returned his gaze.

"Ya can be mad at me, boy. Ya can also keep trying to kill me with yer looks. Ya ain't be able to do that anyway and we ain't leaving this room until ya finally tell me what's wrong with ya, because this ain't the first time I've seen ya crying. So, spit it out: what's wrong with ya?"

The boy sniffled and wiped some tears from his face, before glaring at Yondu again.

"What does it matter to you how I feel?"

"It matters a lot to me, or would I have asked ya otherwise? And now tell me!"

"No!"

"Peter!"

Oh, oh!

How long had it been since Yondu had called him by his full name? It was a very, very long time ago and Peter knew that the Centaurian wouldn't accept another "no!" Still...he didn't want to tell him what was going on. It didn't interest him anyway...right?

"It's nothing...really...I'm fine..." he murmured, not daring to look at the Ravager.

"You're lying," was Yondu's answer and his red eyes continued to fix the boy and he could see how uncomfortable the whole situation was for him, but he didn't care. If he wanted to help him, the little Terran had to tell him what was wrong with him. And maybe, just maybe, he could really help him then.

"So what? Even if it were so...you can't help me!" Peter growled and finally he looked at him. But instead of looking into an angry face, he saw how Yondu's features even relaxed and a strange look appeared in his eyes.

Almost as if he felt sorry for him...

"If ya don't tell me what's wrong with ya, how do ya know I can't help ya? Ya won't even let me try it."

His voice was soft and almost gentle and even the grim look on Peter's own face faded and gave way to surprise. Since when was Yondu so meek towards him?

Well, that didn't matter.

It probably meant nothing either way.

Still...his words didn't go pass him and Peter really thought about opening his mouth and finally telling him the reason why he cried. There had been something in Yondu's voice that told him that the Centaurian had experienced a lot of bad stuff himself and that he knew how he felt in this moment. Peter still shuddered when he looked at the long scars on his face and who knew if those were the only scars on his body?

He had often wondered where Yondu had gotten these scars from, but he hadn't had the courage to ask him where he got them from.

Maybe this was the perfect opportunity now?

He was silent for a while, seemed to be thinking and Yondu was watching him all the time. No emotion went through his body. He just sat there, his head resting on his arms, patiently waiting for Peter to finally open his mouth and talk about the things that were bothering him.

And in fact he finally started talking, but it weren't the words Yondu had wanted to hear from him.

"Fine. I'll tell you everything, but I have a few conditions."

The kid had conditions for him, the Captain himself?

What a brave little one...

Yondu almost grinned, but he kept himself from doing so.

"What conditions, kid?"

Peter sat up, craning his chest forward, trying to look braver and more determined, but he looked rather miserable in the Ravager's eyes, but he was careful not to say those words out loud.

"First, you don't tell anyone about it!"

Just how he emphasized these words...almost as if he was one of them. Interesting…

"I ain't saying anything, kid. Why should I?"

"Because maybe you'll be happy about it if the others make fun of me?"

Yondu grimaced.

"When have I ever done such a thing?"

The boy opened his mouth, wanted to answer something, but he quickly closed it again, because he couldn't think of an answer.

"Actually never..." he murmured and his cheeks turned slightly pink. He quickly cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the blush on his face, before looking Yondu straight in the eyes.

"What is yer second condition, boy?"

Now or never…

"When I tell you about my problems, I want you to tell me where you got those weird looking scars from."

The Centaurian raised an eyebrow as he heard these words and he thought about it for a moment, then just shrugged his shoulders and nodded, when he replied with a simple "okay," which threw Peter so off track, that he didn't know what he should say now.

And that was the moment when Yondu couldn't hold back his grin anymore.

"That's not funny!" the boy said, but the blue man only grinned wider.

"I think the look on yer face is pretty funny."

Shortly afterward, Yondu got up from his chair and put it back at the table, before moving toward his bed and sitting down next to Peter. The grin had disappeared from his face as quickly as it had come and had given way to a serious expression.

"And now tell me why you are so sad, boy," he said and Peter knew that he now had to tell him; whether he wanted it or not.

What had he just got himself into?

He hated to talk about his past, but maybe Yondu was right and he could really help him?

And maybe it was good to talk to somebody about what happened on earth?

There was only one way to find that out and he had to open his mouth now and find the courage to utter the words that had been tormenting him for so long.

And besides: What kind of a miserable pirate he would be, if he didn't even have the courage to talk about his past?

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves down, before turning his head, looking Yondu straight in the eye and opening his mouth.

And then he told him everything...


	3. Chapter 3

_And the next chapter._

 _Please enjoy it._

* * *

 **Chapter 3 _  
_**

Yondu listened to the human child silently and attentively.

No emotion left his body and even in his face you couldn't tell what feelings he currently felt.

Peter had his head turned away from him at some point, as tears had gathered in his eyes again, which now mercilessly rolled down his cheeks and no matter how much he tried to keep himself from crying, he just couldn't do it.

Every word he spoke hurt like a thousands of knifes that were stuck into his heart and he often stuttered, as he had to sob so much that he could hardly speak anymore. Especially when he told Yondu how he had stood by the bedside of his terminally ill mother and how she had reached her hand out to him and how he hadn't grabbed it. Even his head he had turned away from her, when she had died and that seemed to be the worst for him, because the boy made himself great reproaches. When he told him all of this, he could see the scene in his mind's eye, witnessing the death of his mother again and it was as if his heart was brutally torn from his chest.

He also told Yondu that he was still suffering from terrible nightmares when he slept and that he hardly got any sleep because of that.

It was as difficult for him to admit this as to talk about the death of his beloved mother, because he didn't want to look weak. Certainly not in front of the watchful eyes of his Captain. But he couldn't hold back the tears, couldn't stifle his sobs, no matter how hard he tried. And he didn't dare to turn his head to Yondu. Not even when he ended telling him his story. He was ashamed of his tears...ashamed of his weakness...

The two sat there for a long time in silence after Peter had stopped talking and nobody seemed to find the right words. Peter didn't want to say anything anymore and Yondu? He didn't really know what to say, because it was completely new territory for him. He had never consoled anyone before and didn't really know how to do that, or what he should say in this situation. He thought about it for a long time, and when he had found a few words, he didn't look at the boy, but kept his eyes straight ahead and it was as if he was caught in his own thoughts.

"It's terrible what happened to ya, there's no doubt about that, but let me tell ya one thing, Peter: Ya can be glad to have had a mother who loved ya so much. This is worth more than all the riches the galaxy has to offer..."

The last words came as a whisper over his lips and melancholy clouded his eyes. He heard the Terran snivel beside him and saw out of the corner of his eye how he wiped the tears out of his eyes, before looking at him.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Not all of us can claim to have had loving parents..."

And there was something in Yondu's voice that made Peter shudder.

That one, little sentence, said so much about him, that it was almost scary, and it was at that moment when Peter could look behind the otherwise so hard facade of the space pirate for a few seconds. Here, at that moment, he saw a completely different Yondu. A Yondu, who seemed to have lost everything he had ever loved and this experience seemed to have made him to what he was today. There was no doubt about that…

But as soon as the moment had come, it faded again so quickly and soon the hard facade had been rebuilt, as the Centaurian turned his head and looked at him.

"Well, since you've kept yer word, I'll keep mine, too. Ya wanted to know where I got those scars from, right?"

Peter nodded silently and still looked at him with wide eyes.

"I'll tell ya everything, kid. But that might take a while, so make yourself comfortable..."

And he also stood by his word and told the boy everything and he didn't omit even the smallest detail. He told him about his parents and how they had sold him into slavery, when he had been a small child himself. He told him about his time as a battle slave and how he had to fight in the arenas of the Kree. He told him how he had received all these horrible scars on his body and how he had become more and more cold and stoic over the years. He also told him about Stakar and how he had freed him from slavery and made him a Ravager...and how he had later banished him for breaking the Ravager Codex...and with the Codex, all their hearts...

Then he told him the story of how he had met Kraglin and the rest of his crew and how he eventually became the Captain of the Eclector. Of course he didn't tell him about the thing with Ego and his children and _why_ Stakar exiled him...

When he had finished, it was so quiet in the captain's quarters that Peter heard his own heartbeat in his ears. He could hardly believe what Yondu had gone through and yes, now he could understand why he was so cold-hearted. Who wouldn't be like that if he had gone through something like this?

Peter remembered his own time when he was a little kid.

He remembered his schooldays and how he had been bullied there by some of his classmates and how they had taunted him with his sick mother. When he thought about it, he had never really had any real friends. Those who called themselves his friends had also stabbed him in the back or had simply abandoned him, when he had needed them in his darkest hour. This thought brought tears to his eyes again and it didn't get any better when he thought about Yondu's words from earlier.

The Centaurian looked at him questioningly, when he saw thick tears running down his cheeks again and before he even got the chance to ask Peter what was wrong with him, the boy threw himself into his arms and clawed at his coat, as he pressed his face into his chest and sobbed heartbreakingly into it.

This reaction surprised Yondu so much that he flinched and his eyes widened. He had never experienced anything like this and he was completely overwhelmed with this reaction and didn't know how to react or what to do.

Should he just push the boy away from him?

Or should he just leave him alone?

No, he couldn't do one or the other, but what exactly was he about to do?

Damn it! He just wasn't made for this emotional stuff!

Nevertheless, he eventually put a hand on Peter's back and stroked his fingers reassuring up and down. The fingers of his other hand gently stroked through his short hair and this gesture seemed to help for real. But Peter's reaction was not what he had hoped for, because instead of calming down, the boy pressed himself even more against him and clawed even stronger at his coat and sobbed loud and heartbreakingly into his chest. But no word left his lips.

"Shhh, everything will be fine, kid. You'll see..." Yondu whispered softly, hoping it would calm the Terran down a bit and in fact it seemed to work. Peter's body relaxed a bit and his grip around his coat loosened a bit as well. Still, he was still clinging to him, seeking support and comfort at the same time and Yondu tried to give him this as best as he could.

For how long they sat there in the end, none of them knew.

But eventually Peter had fallen asleep in his arms, because his sobs had stopped and also the tears had dried up and Yondu dared to loosen his small fingers from his coat and push him a little away from him. He was always careful not to wake him up in the process.

He quarreled briefly, struggling with his ego and pride, but in the end he just decided to forget his stupid pride for a few hours and cautiously he took Peter in his arms and stood up, just to put the boy into his generous bed a few seconds later. When he wanted to put the blanket over him, he paused and looked at his face. His cheeks were still slightly flushed and here and there he still saw the marks left by his tears and even if he didn't like to admit it, but yes, that sight hurt even in his not so cold heart.

Peter was still a kid and he had been through so many terrible things already.

Yondu didn't know what life on Earth was like, but he could imagine that it was much more peaceful and idyllic than on his own home planet. Where he had been cold-heartedly sold into slavery!

He hated his parents to this day and would he ever see them again, he swore he would kill them with a single whistle!

But it was unlikely that he would ever see them again, because he didn't feel the desire to go back to his home planet. The Eclector was now his home and the Ravagers were his family.

And Peter was at home here too, even if the boy didn't like that thought.

After all, it was better than the alternative...

Yondu would never bring him to this monster called Ego!

He would rather die if he sacrificed another innocent child to this psychopath!

He would take care of Peter himself.

How he would do that, he didn't know yet.

He knew only one thing: It was going to be anything but easy and maybe this would be his most difficult task yet, but he would gladly accept it and he was sure that Kraglin would help him, because the boy seemed to like his first mate a lot. Yondu saw how they often spent time together and whenever Peter was with Kraglin, he seemed more relaxed, less anxious and here and there he had even seen him smile, if not even laugh.

Yes, Kraglin would help him and together they would take care of Peter.

He would make the boy to one of them.

And he would start with it tomorrow...


	4. Chapter 4

_I am finally done with translating this chapter.  
Man that took me way too long.  
But I can't help it; I am busy as hell right now._  
 _ _Anyways, enjoy the fluff in here and I hope you like it :3  
__

* * *

 **Chapter 4 _ _  
__**

No one could say how many days had passed since their conversation, but Yondu could clearly see that Peter was feeling a little better since then and that the ice between them had broken. Apparently the boy had needed it, to just let everything out and talk about all those terrible things that had happened to him. And he had been there for him, listening to him and comforting him and now that he was thinking about it, it was still so surreal to him, because he had never cared for anyone like that before. Not even Kraglin, though his first mate was almost like a son to him too.

Wait a minute...too?

What was he thinking? That Peter would be his son?

The thought was so ridiculous that he shook his head and tried to banish it from his head, but strangely enough, he didn't succeed in that. And what confused him even more, if not shocked him even more, was the fact that he was just trying to convince himself that this thought was ridiculous. In truth, he enjoyed that thought and yes, he could imagine being like a father to the boy. Of course he would never say that aloud...right?

If he was completely honest, he was not so sure about that.

However he turned it, it always came to the same result and at some point he had resigned and accepted the thought.

Was he doing a good job with this father thingy?

He didn't know it and somehow he doubted it on some days. Especially on days, when he trained with Peter. He was sure that he was still way too hard with the boy during their training sessions, because Peter had often come out of it with several bruises from some of their combat training sessions and this sight had strangely hurt him and yes, he had cursed himself for it, that he hadn't been more careful. Even if Peter had to learn how to defend himself, that was no reason to be so hard on him and fight with him, as if there wasn't a small child standing in front of him, but a grown man. But he couldn't help it. His time as a battle slave has also left scars in his soul and so it wasn't uncommon for him to fight like the gladiator he once was. Therefore, he also preferred to use his Yaka arrow whenever he was involved in a real fight. Not only was it faster, it was also much safer for him. He wasn't worried about the wounds he might get during a face-to-face fight. No. He was more worried that he could go crazy and become the monster that the Kree had made out of him back then and he certainly didn't want that. Most of all, he didn't want Peter to see him like that, so he tried to restrain himself during their fighting sessions, but that was far from easy.

He had to find another way to teach Peter how to fight and not go crazy. Well, going crazy were perhaps the wrong words, but there were those moments when he felt set back in his time as a battle slave and he didn't like it. He just wanted to leave that terrible time behind him and never wanted to be reminded of it ever again.

And so he sought advice from Kraglin, as he had often observed how well he got along with Peter. Often he saw the two fooling around together and yes, even if it scratched at his ego enormously, but he couldn't deny that he was a bit jealous of his first mate and that he knew how to handle the boy so well. But he hadn't yet found the courage to jump over his shadow and ask Kraglin straightforwardly for his secret. Not even when he was alone with him on the command bridge, which was always the best opportunity for such a question. But his pride was just too big and he had decided to find out for himself.

So, what did Kraglin and Peter do if they thought they were unobserved?

Yondu had often seen the two playfully fighting each other. Well, he couldn't call that fighting. They had wrestled together like two small children, which didn't surprise him when it came to Peter, since he was not even ten Terran years old. For Kraglin, that was different, since he was much older than ten Terran years and yes, Yondu couldn't deny that the sight had disturbed him slightly, when he first saw it. But by now he had gotten used to the sight and found it only intriguing how well his first mate knew how to handle the boy and how much fun he had and as much as Peter always laughed, the boy seemed to have a lot of fun as well. And there it was again: that slight hint of jealousy...

When he tried to play with the boy, he seemed to be doing everything wrong, which could be done wrong, because Peter had often looked at him, as if he had just met a terrible space-monster, whenever the Centaurian had tried to play with him. What was the problem? His appearance? The scars in his face? His whole manner? He didn't know it and since Peter never said anything, he continued to grope in the dark and that was getting onto his nerves.

He had to change that and he vowed that he would do that the next time he was alone with the boy!

And his chance came faster than he had expected it...

He had just come out of one of the showers and was moving towards the Captain's quarters, only with a towel around his hips. His day had been tough and long and he was looking forward to getting in bed for a few hours and doing nothing until he fell asleep at some point. Just put his feet up and relax. How long had he not done that? Yes, life as a Ravager Captain was anything but easy and stress-free, but Yondu didn't want to miss this life anymore. A life he owed to Stakar, but he didn't want to think about him now, because it would only rip open old wounds and he didn't need that now.

When he arrived in his quarters, he immediately locked his door, so he wouldn't be disturbed. He threw the towel into the next best corner and completely naked, he now stood in front of what you could call a closet and he chosed a pair of underpants, which didn't look as if half the galaxy had worn them already. On his next raid, he would make sure that he would steal some new underpants...

This thought made him grin widely and finally he found what he was looking for. The thing didn't look particularly chic, but he didn't care. It was comfortable and that was what counted. The underwear was also quickly followed by comfortable, dark red pants made of cloth, which had also seen better days already. Well, one more point on his list of things he would steal next time.

The comfortable trousers were followed by a no less comfortable white undershirt. How much he loved those things. That's why he had stolen half a shipload of them, because he was not the only one on the Eclector who liked to wear them. Of course he had secured himself the lion's share. After all, he was the Captain and, moreover, a dreaded space pirate and a dreaded space pirate was allowed to get the lion's share...

His grin widened and he shook his head and tried to banish those thoughts, but that was not so easy. Well, at least he had something to laugh about.

But even that passed quickly, when he heard a noise behind him. He paused in all his movements and listened and in fact the sound repeated itself. Slowly, very slowly, he turned around and his eyes went to the metal table not far from him to make sure his Yaka arrow was nearby. Just in case, of course. He didn't trust anyone except Kraglin and Tullk on this ship and he expected almost every day that anyone would attempt a mutiny. If that would be the case, he would be prepared and if he could get his hands on the Ravager who started said mutiny, he would kill him in front of his entire crew to set a point and show them all what it meant to mess with Yondu Udonta!

But judging by the noise, it didn't seem like anyone was here, trying to kill him. Nevertheless, he remained tense and his eyes searched the room, hoping he could find the one who was hiding here and he actually saw something peeping out from under his bed. A bare foot, too small to be an adult's foot and almost instantly Yondu's body relaxed again when he realized that he was not in mortal danger and that it was only Peter who had hidden himself under his bed. Apparently the boy had missed the moment to come out of his hiding place, sneaking up on him and frightening him.

Well, he could also turn the tables.

Again, this broad grin spread over his face and his eyes began to sparkle in anticipation, because this was his chance for a fresh start. He was not allowed to mess this up again!

So he acted as if he hadn't seen the little foot and turned back to his closet and closed it. Then he grabbed his clothes, which he had previously thrown carelessly onto the floor and he had to keep a chuckle to himself, as he saw out of the corner of his eye, how Peter quickly pulled his foot under the bed, as he bent down to his leather clothes and to pick up his coat from the ground. And he also ignored the soft giggle that came from under his bed.

He really had to work on Peter's ambush skills at some point...

Nevertheless, he tried to continue to ignore the boy, threw his clothes over the chair and a little later also put his boots next to it. And finally, he decided to pay his full attention to the little Terran.

He would show him how to really sneak up on somebody and surprise him...

Slowly, very slowly, he sauntered over to his bed and as he sat down on it, he grinned, as he heard that childlike giggle again. For a few moments it was so quiet in the room that you could hear a pin drop. But the silence was quickly broken by a surprised shriek, as Yondu decided to attack. With a quick motion, he reached under his bed, grabbed Peter's ankles and pulled the boy out of his hiding place and threw him onto his bed only seconds later. Before Peter managed to sit up or realize what had just happened, Yondu was already over him, grabbing his wrists and holding them over his head. He wore such a big grin on his lips that Peter shuddered, but when he looked into the Centaurian's red eyes, he could see that he was not in the least angry at him and that alone made him relax. More or less…

"Gotcha!" he grinned and also Peter couldn't help it and grinned back, albeit a little nervous.

If Yondu behaved like he did now, he liked him best...

"If ya have planned an ambush attack, then ya should urgently work on yer ambush skills, li'l one. I am sure half the ship has heard ya."

The boy giggled and tried to free himself from his grip, but it was like a vise and he knew that Yondu only did that to tease him a little more.

"That's not true!" he said, giggling.

"Are you saying that I'm lying?"

"Yes!"

"Watch what you say, Petey. This might backfire on ya."

And there it was again: that little hint of panic in the boy's eyes.

Great! He screwed it up again!

Or...maybe he could defuse the situation, because he was just remembering something he had found out during a training session with Peter a few weeks ago and what he liked to use since then to tease the boy a little bit. And if, when not now would be the perfect opportunity to do it again?

He still wore that broad grin on his lips, as he raised his hand and put it on the boy's belly, which then flinched and Peter looked at him as if he had just hit him. A sight that hurt him and that confused him, but he didn't show it. Apparently he was getting soft for real...

Even so, he was now fully focused on the boy and what he was about to do with him and when he started to wiggle his fingers slowly and teasingly on his belly, Peter's expression changed. Where there had been fear in his eyes, there was now an almost excited twinkle to be seen and Yondu felt how he was trying to fend off his fingers. It was still a mystery to him, what the boy found so damn funny, whenever he touched certain parts of his body only lightly, but he couldn't deny that it didn't fascinate him.

"See? Told ya: This might backfire on ya," he teased, and in response Peter put his bare feet against his chest and tried to push him away, but small and weak as he was, he couldn't do it.

"S-stop that!" he demanded and a soft giggle came over his lips and slowly some movement went into his body, as Yondu dug his fingers a little deeper into the fabric of his T-shirt.

"I don't think about it!"

Peter tried to growl and at the same time he narrowed his eyes, but instead of intimidating Yondu, he just made him laugh.

"Uhhh I'm shaking with fear now, Petey," he teased him with a broad grin.

Instead of a verbal answer, the boy raised his right leg slightly and wanted to kick his foot into his stomach, but Yondu saw the attack coming and quickly grabbed his leg with his free hand. He clicked his tongue as he looked at the Terran, who now grinned up at him.

"Hmm, not so bad, Petey. But, you know what?"

The boy shook his head and raised an eyebrow in question, as Yondu released him and straightened up instead, towering over him in a kneeling position and yes, the sight intimidated him.

"If you're already launching a surprise attack on me, then ya should also make sure it remains a surprise. Just like... _that_!"

It was a loud, startled scream that broke out of the boy's throat, which was soon followed by loud laughter, as Yondu's blue hands rushed forward, digging his fingers into the boy's body and tickling him. He attacked every little spot from which he knew that it would make the Terran laugh and soon Peter rolled across the bed, laughing loudly, trying to grab his hands and pushing them away, but he couldn't make it.

Meanwhile, Yondu had to be careful not to get hit by one of his feet, because the boy kicked his legs out wildly, as he got more and more lost in his laughing fit. And he himself couldn't get this stupid grin off of his face anymore, as the sound of the boy's laughter was so contagious to him. And when Peter almost fell off the bed, he could no longer resist his own laughter anymore and quickly grabbed the boy's shirt and pulled him back, preventing him from falling off the bed and onto the cold floor.

As soon as he lay back on the bed, Yondu wanted to "attack" him again, but the little Terran raised his hands in defense and shouted "Okay, okay, you win! I give up! ", which made him grin again and in fact he also dropped his hands, which he had already raised for the next tickle attack.

"You're lucky I'm in such a good mood today, kid. But one thing I'll tell ya: Next time, I don't know mercy anymore, so think twice about sneaking up on me again."

Peter was almost tempted to stick his tongue out at him for that, but at the last moment he kept himself from doing so, as he knew in what this would end for him. He giggled and sat up, brushing his short hair out of his face, before looking at Yondu expectantly.

The Centaurian only raised an eyebrow questioningly and didn't really know what the little Terran wanted from him.

"What?" he asked, but instead of a verbal answer, Peter giggled again and only seconds later Yondu opened his eyes in alarm, as the boy jumped forward; right into his arms. He wrapped his arms around his body and pressed his own body against him, and Yondu didn't know how to react at that moment, which the boy probably noticed, because he giggled again and pressed his face into his chest, snuggling up to him.

Yondu didn't know what to do and it was hard for him to understand the situation. It had been such a damn long time since anybody had hugged him, that he seemed to have forgotten the feeling long ago. But when he finally realized what was happening, his mouth twisted into a tiny smile and he gently put his arms around the kid and hugged him back gently. And he tried to ignore the warm feeling that spread in his chest; right where his heart was...

How long this moment lasted, neither of them could say. It could have been seconds, minutes, hours or even days. Yondu didn't care. He enjoyed the moment to the fullest.

When the moment was over and when Peter pulled away from him, he wanted to grumble, but the grin on the boy's face stopped him from doing so and yes, it baffled him a bit. Especially when Peter quickly jumped off the bed and ran to the door with a grin and unlocked and opened it.

"Now I was able to surprise you, didn't I, Yondu?" he said with another giggle and before the Ravager had any chance to answer, Peter had already stepped out of the door and ran away, laughing.

The pirate remained kneeling on his bed, totally perplexed.

He was staring at his now open door and it seemed to be hard to believe for him what had just happened. Peter might just wanted to tease him, but he had done so much more than that. He had unconsciously made Yondu happy. As happy as not for a long time. And with that gesture, he had shown him that he liked him.

The Ravager still felt that warm feeling inside his heart and damn! It felt so good!

And still there was that gentle smile on his lips.

Yes, apparently he didn't do that dad thingy as bad as he always thought he would...

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 _I have to say, that the part where Yondu was standing in front of his wardrobe sounds so much funnier in german than in english.  
I couldn't find the proper translation for the words I have used in german and I don't think there are even english words for it._

 _Well, I hope the translation is okay and not as terrible as I think it is. I think many people have no idea how hard this is, if english is NOT your mother language, to translate all of this stuff. And yet, hardly anyone ever tells me if my english has imporved or not -.-. But this is a topic for another time._

 _I hope you liked this chapter. I have no idea when I will upload the next one, since I am still very busy over here and I also work on some other stories, which I wanna finish first before I start translating the next chapter. And I have to say that sadly there is no much interest in this story of mine, which also takes away a lot of motivation. And this story is also on hiatus (but I keep translating the chapters that are already written, just saying. But I have no idea when I find the motivation to keep writing on it. This is the problem with longfics: I always lose interest in them at some point...)_


	5. Chapter 5

_I don't even know if anyone is still reading this, since I haven't heard anything from those few readers who did read it before, but whatever._

 _Have a new chapter and I hope you enoy it, should you still read this story of mine._

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

In the next few days, Yondu didn't have much time for the boy, so he decided to give him in Kraglin's hands, knowing how well Peter got along with his first mate.

Even today, the boy was walking through the dark corridors of the ship together with him. In his arms he held all sorts of tools that Kraglin needed to fix something on the ship. A trifle, as he called it and therefore he had decided to take Peter with him, so that the Terran could learn how to wade a spaceship. If he was old enough, he would fly his own ship, he was sure of that and therefore it wouldn't hurt to teach him how to replace certain parts and which cables to rebuild if there was a short power failure somewhere or some system failures.

And Peter wasn't even too bad with fixing the problem, because when they arrived a little later in the engine room, Kraglin showed him everything and the boy did it almost too perfect.

"Now look at that. There is a little mechanic inside of you, huh Pete?" he had said and his words of praise made the boy blush, which the first mate commented with a big grin.

"If you have your own ship, then I'm sure you'll take good care of it."

Even more praise and Peter tried to hide his fire-red cheeks from Kraglin, but he had already seen more than enough, which confirmed his soft chuckle.

"When do I get my own ship?" the boy asked and he tried to steer the subject to something else. He didn't look at the first mate and instead collected the tools they had just used to repair the parts.

"Then, when yer old enough, kiddo."

Peter turned to him and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I am old enough, Kraglin."

The other laughed softly, walked over to him and ruffled his hair.

"No you are not. Yondu will decide when the time comes."

"But why not you? You're like the captain too, aren't you?"

"No, Pete, I'm not. I am the first mate of the captain. That's a big difference. I am only the captain when Yondu is not aboard the Eclector. And even if he's not here for a few days, I have no right to decide this over his head. Besides, I think ya ain't old enough to fly one of our M-ships yet."

Peter craned his chest forward to look braver.

"Yondu let me fly the Eclector a few weeks ago."

The first mate raised an eyebrow in question as these words came to his ears.

The boy was kidding, right?

Judging by his gaze, he seemed to be serious with what he said.

"Oh really? Surely everyone would have noticed it, if ya had controlled the Eclector, kid."

"I did it!"

"Couldn't have been for too long, though."

Oh man, it was almost as if Kraglin could read his mind.

Again, Peter's cheeks flushed slightly as he turned his head away from him.

"Well, he let me steer the ship in a certain direction and then I was allowed to turn on the autopilot," he admitted meekly and without looking at the other.

Kraglin didn't say a word for a few moments, collecting his tools and stowing them in a metal suitcase, before kneeling down to face Peter, as he turned his eyes back to him. A small smile graced the lips of the first mate, as he looked at him.

"Each of us started small, Pete. If Yondu let you steer the Eclector, then he has great trust in you, and that's good, isn't it? "

The boy nodded his head and his face brightened again and a wave of pride rushed through his body.

Yondu trusted him...

"You're sure to become a good pilot, but ya have to give it time. Small steps, not big ones. When the time comes, we will teach ya how to fly a spaceship. But until then, you will learn from me how to wade a ship, because that is very important. Just imagine, you're in space and the drive of your ship breaks down. If ya don't know how to fix it, then you're damned to die."

A shiver crept over Peter's back as he imagined it.

Floating helplessly in space, always with the certainty in the neck, that either the oxygen runs out or the pressure inside the ship becomes so strong that the windows would shatter and he gets pulled out into the universe.

Not a nice way to die...

"Say Kraglin...what would happen if the drive of the Eclector breaks down? Or anything else happens to the ship, which is hard to repair? Do we all have to die then?"

The first mate laughed softly and sat down next to the boy, who had made himself comfortable on one of the many large metal pipes.

"This is highly unlikely, but it can happen. If it really happens, then there are two possibilities: If the ship still has enough fuel and if we can still control it, then we would fly to the next planet and land there. If that doesn't work, we still have enough M-ships to get the whole crew out of the ship."

"And what if the M-ships can't be decoupled because of a defect?"

Clever boy…

"Not bad, kid. For such a thing we have made provision. If the technology fails on the ship, the M-ships can be decoupled by hand despite everything. That's not easy, but it's possible."

"And what if we land on a planet so cold that we freeze to death immediately when we go out?"

"We wouldn't head for such a planet."

"But, what if the ship doesn't make it to the next planet and we have to land there?"

"Then there's Ravagers on a stick, kid."

Peter and Kraglin turned their heads almost synchronously, as that voice came to their ears, and as they turned their eyes toward the engine room entrance, they saw Tullk standing in the doorway, grinning broadly at them. He was leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and seemed to be watching them for quite some time already.

"How long have you been standing there?" Kraglin asked and you could clearly hear from his voice how uncomfortable this situation was for him. Normally no one was able to sneak up on him without him noticing it. And he didn't like being watched when he was fooling around with Peter.

Although...luckily they hadn't done that. At least not today...

"Long enough, I think."

The Ravager broke away from the doorframe and entered the engine room. As he came to a halt in front of Peter, he reached his hand out to the boy and ruffled his hair like Kraglin had done it before, making Peter giggle and he tried to force his hand from his head, but he was not strong enough for that.

Tullk was one of the few Ravagers, except for Yondu and Kraglin, with whom Peter got along well. He liked Tullk and he had already spent some time with him. He had had a good time conversing with him and it was fun to explore the ship with him, because he still hadn't seen everything of the Eclector yet and Tullk liked to show him a few new things every now and then.

"What are you doing down here? I thought you were with the others?" Kraglin interrupted the playful scene and Tullk pulled his hand away from Peter's head again and instead turned his eyes to the first mate.

"I was with the others, but the Captain gave me the order to go check on you and make sure everything was fine with you. Have you fixed the problem?"

"Yes, we did and Peter helped me with that."

Tullk turned his eyes back to the boy, who grinned at him sheepishly.

"Oh, so you fixed it, huh? Well, look at that. I thought you wanted to be a pilot and not a mechanic?"

"I want to be a pilot, but Kraglin said it's better to learn how to wade a ship beforehand."

"Hmm, Kraglin said something clever for once."

Tullk only wanted to tease him with that, Kraglin could see this in his eyes and the big grin on his face and he only commented his words with an eye roll.

"But not that Kraglin tells you horror stories."

The first mate grinned.

" _I_ tell him horror stories? _He_ is the one who tells me horror stories."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Horror stories of an ice planet on which we would all freeze to death."

"That was not a story. I just asked you what would happen if we would be forced to do an emergency landing on a planet like that."

Again Tullk grinned and he sat down next to Peter so the boy was sitting in the middle of the two Ravagers.

"Simple, kid: We'll give Kraglin some warm clothes and let him go out to fix the ship. An ice planet is not bad. Just imagine a planet full of cyborgs."

"What's a cyborg?"

"An organic being, made half of machine parts," Kraglin answered the question.

"Something like Vorker?"

The two Ravagers couldn't help but laugh at Peter's words and the boy didn't quite understand what was so funny about his question.

"No, Pete. Vorker is not a cyborg. How do you come up with something like that?"

"He has an eye that consists of a machine part."

"But that doesn't make him a cyborg. The eye must already be built into his skull to make him to one. Instead, it's just a prosthesis he takes out every time he wants to go sleeping," Tullk grinned at him.

Kraglin got up and pulled the boy to his feet and quickly gave him the tools that had found no place in his metal suitcase.

"We'd rather stop talking about that. Not that Pete gets nightmares in the end."

He didn't even wait for an answer, ignoring Peter's nagging and his words that he was old enough for such stories and pushed him out of the engine room.

Tullk grinned after them and shook his head, when he could hear Peter start telling Kraglin about pirates and why Vorker wasn't wearing an eyepatch instead of his "weird eye" because then he would look like a real pirate. After all, they were space pirates.

Kraglin's murmuring was the only thing that could be heard a little later when the two disappeared around the next corner and Tullk was left alone in the engine room, who couldn't get this grin off of his face anymore.

Yes, the kid was alright and since he lived on the Eclector, it wasn't so boring up here anymore...


	6. Chapter 6

_Finally got around to translate this chapter and I am so, so sorry for the grammer mistakes.  
I bet there are a lot of them this time, for this was a huge pain in the a** to translate. I am sorry. _

_Anyway, I hope you still like it._

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Booooooooring.

That was the word that wouldn't want to get out of Peters mind that day.

For what felt like an eternity, he lay on his bed, his arms crossed behind his head, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. He had his headphones on and listened to music, but even that got increasingly boring after a while.

Heaven and hell, he was here on a real pirate ship, even in space and lay around here and didn't know what to do with himself and apparently nobody had time to take care of him today. Not even Kraglin, since Yondu had given him a job in which he had to wade the ship's systems along with a few other crewmembers, and that took too much time and thus he couldn't take Peter with him. And if the boy was honest, he didn't really want to go for another mechanic tour through the huge spaceship. He already did that only a few days ago.

No.

He wanted action, wanted to go out there and experience something that he would talk about in many, many years.

That this was highly unlikely happening any time soon, he knew as well as anyone else, because Yondu didn't even allow him to explore the ship on his own, because he wanted to keep him away from the other crew members and yes, Peter could understand that well. Not all Ravagers were as friendly as Tullk or even Kraglin, and he preferred to stay away from them. The last time he'd run into a smaller group of Ravagers, he'd had to scrub the caboose for hours and he didn't want to repeat that. Especially since he could imagine that the punishment for the next time would be much harder...

Nevertheless!

He wanted to do something, but he didn't know what.

It had to be something that didn't jeopardize his safety at any price and where he didn't come across any of the others. With a shudder, Peter remembered the last time he was alone in the corridors of the huge spaceship, as he had wanted to go to the showers. And then he had met a group of Ravagers and he still remembered how they had scoffed at him and how they had told him that he shouldn't get too close to them, because they liked to eat small, helpless Terrans.

Small helpless Terrans...

If Peter remembered those words, the anger boiled up inside him, but there was nothing he could do about it. At least not yet. But one day he wouldn't be a small, helpless child anymore. No. One day he would be as strong as these Ravagers and then he would get his revenge on all of them!

But until this would happen, he had to subordinate himself and do what Yondu told him to do, even if that wasn't so easy. After all, he was still a child and children wanted to be amused from time to time.

But since nobody was here to spend some time with him, he had to come up with something for himself.

It was a pity that Yondu or Kraglin had no time for him today.

Over the past few months, the bond between them had become stronger and Peter often found himself begging the two of them to spend some time with him and also noticed that he had been spending a lot of time with Yondu lately and that he was hardly scared of him anymore. He liked it when Yondu didn't let the brutal space pirate hang out whenever they were alone in the room. A side, that Peter liked very much about him and yes, he liked to fool around with the Ravager leader whenever he allowed it and whenever he was in the mood for it, but that hadn't happened so often lately. Yondu had been busy, planning their next raid for days, so he had no time for the boy and Kraglin was busy keeping the ship going. And he preferred to avoid the others...

Often he asked himself what the others experience during their raids.

Yondu had never allowed him to leave the ship and yes, slowly Peter was tired of always staying behind, but he could somehow understand the Centaurian. The universe wasn't a place for a small child and often Yondu had told him about the terrible creatures that lived there. They tried to avoid such dangers as much as possible, but even an experienced Ravager couldn't say what could happen on one of their raids, so Peter had to stay aboard the Eclector, where it was safe.

However, he hoped eventually to leave the ship as soon as possible, if only for a few minutes. That would be enough for him.

How nice it would be to feel the wind on his skin after such a long time in space and to fill his lungs with fresh air...

Before his mood ended up in the basement, the boy decided to turn off his Walkman, sit up and take off his headphones. He grabbed both and put it onto the small table that stood next to his bed. He then let his eyes wander around the room, hoping he could find something to pass the time with. But apart from some sort of wardrobe, a table, a chair and his bed, there was nothing really exciting in his room. Until...yes, until his gaze caught the ventilation duct that was set in the wall, right next to his door.

The ventilation shaft was large and Peter remembered that Kraglin had once told him that the ventilation ducts ran through the entire spaceship.

Did he fit in there?

There was only one way to find out...

Without waiting any longer, the boy jumped off his bed, grabbed the metal chair and placed it just under the ventilation shaft and climbed on it. It took a few tries to dislodge the grille from the ventilation shaft, but since Kraglin had already taught him some tricks, that was not a big obstacle for him. Gently he put the rather heavy grid next to the chair against the wall and risked a look into the dark ventilation shaft. The air that greeted him was cool and smelt strange, as if the ventilation shaft hadn't been cleaned for an eternity and when Peter put his hands in it, it was confirmed in the form of a small cloud of dust that came towards him. But that didn't bother him much. He braced himself and slid headfirst into the ventilation shaft, coughing as another cloud of dust was hurled into his face. His eyes needed a moment to get used to the darkness. His body just fit in there and he was able to move forward quite well.

Slowly he crawled forward, until he reached a turn in a few meters and stopped there for a moment, thinking.

Where did he want to go?

Hmm...how about Yondu's quarters?

He had never been there alone and had never had the opportunity to look around properly there and since Yondu wasn't there anyway, that would be the perfect opportunity. Besides, this room was not far away from his own room.

Peter didn't wait any longer and sat back in motion and this time he also had a goal in mind.

The darkness in front of him was punctuated by a series of beams of light that penetrated the grates that he passed here and there and whenever he did so, he paused to peer through the grates into the rooms underneath.

Many of the rooms were empty, probably because Yondu had gathered most of his crew on the command bridge. At least Peter thought so, because why else did he not see any of the others?

He almost toyed with the idea of getting out of that dark, stuffy ventilation shaft, but he was afraid he would meet some of the others and besides, this was the only way into Yondu's quarters, for the Centaurian had probably locked the door and only he knew the code for the door lock to open it from the outside. So Peter had to stay in the ventilation shaft. He just hoped it was worth it...

After a few more minutes, he had actually arrived in the captain's quarters and it didn't even surprise him that the grid was not secured here, because no Ravager would fit into this ventilation shaft at all. Even for Peter it was already tight enough. An adult would get stuck in there for sure. A thought that made him grin slightly, as images sneaked into his head, but he quickly tried to get rid of said images.

Concentration!

He flinched, as he undid the grille and when it landed on the floor of the room. Peter paused briefly and listened, but no one seemed to have heard it, because it remained silent in the room and he heard nothing in the corridor either. No footsteps, no voices, nothing at all and he relaxed a bit again. Still, he remained cautious, slowly shuffling out of the ventilation shaft and as he stood in Yondu's quarters, he took a chair and fastened the grille back in place. Just in case somebody came into the room and saw the grid, because then he knew something was wrong. Anyway, Peter wouldn't make it back to the ventilation shaft so fast and he had to hide somewhere else in the room instead. All he had to do was wait for the man to leave the room then. After all, he was able to unlock the door from the inside.

But he didn't want to think about that now.

When the grille was back in its rightful place, he put the chair back against the table, brushed the dust from his shirt and pants and then let his eyes wander across the room.

So that's what Yondu's quarters looked like, huh?

Granted, the room didn't look really nice, but what did Peter expect?

And it wasn't really looking like the quarters of a pirate either.

It looked more like a bomb had exploded here, because there were things everywhere on the ground. Only the bed was neatly made and on the metal table there was an almost too picture-perfect order. But he couldn't say this about the rest of the room though.

He grinned again, because that reminded him of his former room on earth.

How many times his mother had admonished him before he finally cleaned up?

It all seemed to him as if this had happened in another life...

But before a wave of sadness rolled over him, he pulled himself together and he preferred to continue exploring the room.

He started at Yondu's desk, looking at all the pieces of paper, scattered across the table and Peter wondered why the Centaurian was still writing on an ordinary piece of paper instead of an electronic logbook as usual. He picked up one of the carefully stacked notes and tried to recognize what the strange signs meant that were written on that paper, but he gave it up quickly and put the note back on the pile from which he had taken it from. He had to admit that Yondu had a nice font, but unfortunately he couldn't read what was written there. Peter had never seen these signs in his life before. In addition to the slips of paper, all sorts of pens (Peter now simply referred to them as pens) lay on the desk and he also saw the electronic logbook Yondu liked to use.

As he walked on, he found even more strange notes hanging on the wall, but even there Peter couldn't read what was written on it. The boy couldn't help but giggle when he saw the mug shot, which hung right next to all these slips. It was really a shame that he couldn't read what was written there, but Peter could already imagine it. Most likely, a generous bounty on Yondu was exposed. No wonder, since he was a terrifying space pirate . As it seemed, half the galaxy seemed to fear him...

The boy left the notes behind him and arrived a little later at his wardrobe and the little Terran couldn't keep his curiosity to himself and opened the electronic doors. As expected, Yondu's closet was full of Ravager clothes and they were all in dark red leather. But among all the leathers clothes, he also saw red pants made of a fabric-like material and when Peter reached his hand out to it and let his fingers brush over the fabric, he felt how soft it was. Next to the pile of comfortable trousers was a pile of no-less comfortable white undershirts. The boy had seen Yondu wearing these things many times already and many of the other Ravagers wore them as well. A giggle sneaked out of his throat when he saw a pile of underpants that didn't suit Yondu at all. And these things had clearly seen better days for sure...

Shaking his head and still with a small grin on his lips, Peter closed the doors again and he kept walking. He stopped in front of a rather high shelf and curiously looked at the contents. His eyes began to twinkle, when he saw all the small figures Yondu kept on this shelf, which he had lovingly placed in a row. The figures showed strange beings, like a weird looking green elephant thingy for example. Another figure looked like a black cat. For the others, he wasn't so sure what they should be, but somehow they looked pretty cute too.

He reached out for the black cat and carefully removed it from the shelf. He then moved back to Yondu's desk and sat down on the chair. Carefully, he turned the cat in his hands so that he could look at the figure from all sides. The material felt cold in his hands, almost like glass.

A black cat.

An animal, which he hadn't seen for almost an eternity and he thought he would never see anything of earth, his home, ever again. Okay, this cat looked different from the cats that existed on Earth, but it was still a cat, a small souvenir of his home world and that thought was enough to make him smile.

He set the figure down on the table, put his arms on the metal tabletop too and rested his head on it and his eyes continued to look at the small figure.

He lost himself in his daydreams so much that he heard the footsteps out in the corridor too late. When he heard them, they were almost at the door and Peter had no time to put the figure back on the shelf. Quickly he jumped up, ran over to the bed and just as the door to the captain's quarters opened, he had managed to hide under it.

Just in time, because Yondu entered the room with a grumble and immediately closed the door behind him again and locked it. Apparently he was in a bad mood and that alone was enough to speed up Peter's heartbeat.

He so hoped that he wouldn't find him here...

His eyes were fixed on the Centaurian's feet, as he moved to his closet, opened it and picked out a few comfortable clothes. Then he peeled off his boots and leather clothes, threw them carelessly onto the floor and put on the more comfortable clothes, before moving to the bed. Peter gasped, hardly daring to breathe, as Yondu sat down on the bed and sighed softly.

Then it was quiet in the room, until...

"What the... ?!" Peter heard a low growl and the Ravager got up again and walked straight over to the shelf where the boy had taken out the black cat before. Apparently Yondu hadn't seen the figure standing on his desk when he walked past to get to his closet. No wonder, for the cat was jet black and the room was generally quite dark.

But how the hell did Yondu immediately realize that a piece of his collection was missing?

He really had to love his collection.

At that moment, he reminded Peter more of a dragon who protected his treasure and noticed it when only a single small piece of gold was missing...

"Whoever stole one of my figures will pay for it!" Peter heard him growl and he shuddered as he thought of the punishment that would probably await him, would the blue man get his hands on him. He hadn't stolen the cat and he had never intended to do it.

If only he had had a bit more time to put the cat back onto the shelf...

But it was the way it was and Peter had to come up with something now to save his skin.

He had to leave this room, but how should he do that?

The door was locked and he never managed to get into the ventilation shaft unnoticed. Especially since he had previously put the grid again in front of the entrance of the ventilation shaft. No matter how he turned it. He knew he was screwed.

Lost in thoughts, he slid backward to better protect himself from Yondu's gaze, but he forgot about his surroundings and it wasn't long before his foot hit something heavy, which toppled over. The noise, this something made, sounded like an explosion in Peter's ears and he stopped in all his movements and his heart almost stopped beating.

It was suddenly dead quiet in the room and when Peter turned his eyes back to the spot where Yondu had just stood, he shuddered again, because he could no longer see the Ravager anywhere.

And then something grabbed him by the ankles and before he realized what was happening, he was already pulled out from under the bed. A surprised and scared scream came from his throat, as he now dangled upside-down. When he opened his eyes, he saw Yondu's stomach and when he let his eyes wander upwards, he looked into the pirate's stern face and the sight made the boy swallow hard.

Yondu held him by one of his ankles with one hand, the other one was placed on his hip and with an icy cold-blooded look he looked at the Terran, who looked back at him anxiously.

And at that moment Peter knew that he had gone too far...


	7. Chapter 7

_Finally the translation is done. I hope you will like this (pretty long) chapter^^_

 _And for those who care: This chapter is gonna be pretty important for future chapters, so please keep this in mind ;)._

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Yondu's gaze was cold and stern and he saw the boy shudder, felt how he was trying to squirm in his steel-hard grip. His head slowly took on an interesting color, as the blood flowed into it, but he didn't care.

Served this little thief right!

A growl loosened from his throat, as Peter looked pleadingly up at him.

"Where is it?" he growled at him, his eyes almost impaling the Terran boy.

"Wh-where is what?"

He narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip around the boy's ankle, which made him flinch, as he seemed to understand the warning.

"Ya know exactly what I mean, ya little thief!"

"I didn't steal your figure! I swear!"

"And why isn't it standing where it should be? And how did ya even get in here?!"

"I'll explain everything to you, Yondu, but please...let me go. I'm getting dizzy."

For a few more seconds, the Centaurian looked at him sternly, before his facial features softened a bit and he let go of Peter's foot, causing the boy to fall not very gently onto the Captain's bed. When he sat up, Yondu was already at his desk, as he had finally seen the figure standing there. Lovingly, his blue fingers stroked over the black cat, which he now held in his hands, before he placed it back onto the shelf.

Peter thought he was going to give him a terrible punishment here and now when the pirate turned around to face him, but to his astonishment, Yondu didn't look at him as angry as before. No. His eyes looked different, almost as if he was too tired and exhausted to punish him for what he had done. He was about to open his mouth and apologize, when Yondu approached him, but he didn't get the chance to do so, because the Ravager was faster than him when _he_ apologized to _him_.

"What?" Peter said disbelieving, as he watched the older man run his hands through his face, before sitting down next to him on the bed.

"I'm sorry, Petey," he repeated his words and Peter could clearly hear how exhausted he was. Apparently he seemed to have a long day behind him. Great. And just today he had to break into his quarters. Very smart...

"Actually, I have to apologize to you, don't you think so?"

Yondu's mouth twitched slightly upwards when those words reached his ears.

"Ya didn't do it on purpose."

"So you believe me?"

"Yes. Or is there a reason not to do that?"

He turned his head to him and Peter shuddered, when he saw the now stern look and the warning that resonated in it.

"No, there isn't. I really didn't want to steal anything."

Almost immediately, Yondu's gaze softened again and he relaxed a bit as well, lying down on the bed next to Peter and closing his eyes. He heard the rustling of clothes, as the boy scooted to his side and he almost felt his curious look on his body, causing him to open one of his red eyes and look at him.

Peter knelt right next to him and looked at him questioningly.

"Everything okay?"

Yondu nodded at the question and brushed his hand through his face again.

"Aye, I'm just tired."

"Oh...maybe I should better leave then?"

A small, gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Ya don't need to leave. If ya want to, ya can stay here. Besides, ya can tell me how ya got in here and what ya wanted here."

The boy giggled.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Aye. So, spit it out. How did ya get in here, ya little brat?"

Peter grinned and before he started to speak, he straddled Yondu's legs, his hands resting on his stomach and he looked right into his face. He couldn't help but see the curious glint in the Ravager's red eyes, which showed him that he was genuinely interested in hearing how Peter managed to enter his quarters without being caught.

"Do you see the ventilation shaft there?"

"Aye."

The Terran deliberately stopped talking, his grin widened, his eyes twinkled and he waggled his eyebrows and that was all Yondu needed to know.

"Are you serious, kid? Ya came through the ventilation shaft?"

"Yes."

"How did ya get in there?"

"I just crawled in."

"Did ya fit in there?"

"Yes."

There was a brief silence between them and Peter could see Yondu thinking about his words for a moment.

The little Terran surprised him more and more. Maybe he could someday use this to his advantage. Peter didn't seem to be scared anymore, he had become bolder and more brazen, if he was honest. But that was good. Actually very good. After all, he lived here in the midst of a gang of space pirates and he had to get a thick coat to survive here. The boy was creative and courageous. Perfect conditions to become one of them. And perfect conditions for their raids...

But he kept these thoughts to himself, just grinned and poked the kid's belly, which made him giggle.

"You're becoming more and more one of us, kid. Not bad."

Peter's face brightened and a wave of pride rolled over him.

A compliment from the Captain himself!

And as Yondu looked at him, he seemed to mean those words honestly.

"Kraglin also told me ya should have helped him brilliantly lately when ya two were down in the engine room."

Peter almost blushed with so much praise all at once.

"Did he really say that?"

"Aye, he did."

Again, the pride rolled over him, which Yondu could see this time, because Peter, without even noticing it, craned his chest forward.

The Ravager chuckled and poked his belly again, causing the Terran to giggle and he quickly rubbed his hand over the spot where Yondu had just poked him.

"Don't think that alone makes ya a Ravager, son. To become one of us requires more than crawling through ventilation shafts and repairing machine parts."

"Son?"

Only when Peter repeated the word did Yondu realize what he had just said.

Son...seriously?

"That...that was just a metaphor. Nothing more," he tried to quickly talk himself out of the situation and he avoided vehemently the eye contact with the boy, who then raised an eyebrow skeptically.

But Peter decided to keep his mouth shut, as he could see that this topic seemed to be uncomfortable for Yondu. But he couldn't help but notice that the pirate was behaving very differently towards him lately. He was much gentler than usual. Just like today, because he hadn't even punished him after he had caught him. Strange, because otherwise he punished him on the spot. Not today. No. Today he was very different. He even allowed him to stay here, sit on his legs, talk to him...

Somehow that was strange, but Peter liked this new side of him. He even liked it a lot, because he wasn't scared of him anymore, even enjoyed spending time with him. Just as he enjoyed spending time with Kraglin or Tullk...

"Why did ya even come here?"

Yondu's words tore him out of his thoughts and his eyes returned to the blue man's face. He shrugged his shoulders, before he started to speak.

"I was bored."

Now it was Yondu who raised an eyebrow.

"You were bored? And then ya thought that breaking into my quarters would banish yer boredom, huh?"

The boy grinned cheekily into his face.

"Aye!" he said and his answer was only commented by a playful eye roll of the Captain, who folded his arms behind his head and made himself even more comfortable.

Yondu had to admit that the boy reminded him of himself and his time which he had spent on Stakar's ship; right after he had saved him from slavery. He hadn't been nearly as gentle with him as he was with Peter now, but Stakar had always been something of a mentor, if not a father figure for Yondu. He had raised him, had made him a Ravager and he had showed him how to survive in the galaxy.

But there were times when the little kid in Yondu, that the Kree had imprisoned for twenty long years, seemed to have come out of his prison. Even if it had been short moments, he still remembered it well and how he had almost drove Stakar and the rest of the crew crazy at the time. He had stolen from them and if he had been caught, he had laughed cheekily right into their faces; no matter how hard the punishment for his wrongdoing had been. No matter what they had done to him, he had never wanted to learn his lesson, had continued to play pranks on them, even when he had become older. Nice times, when he thought about it and yes, he missed those times.

That's why he didn't punish Peter for this little misstep. The boy didn't want to steal anything, maybe he just wanted to look around his quarters, because he had never really done that before and besides, Peter reminded him of himself. He had also been young and wanted to have fun...

"What are you thinking of?" the boy's voice tore him out of his thoughts again and his body jerked slightly startled and his red eyes turned to him. And again there was that mischievous twinkle in Yondu's eyes that made Peter shudder.

"I am thinking about what I'm going to do to ya if ya creep into my quarters again."

Peter's eyes widened.

"What? I thought you were not angry at me?"

The other grinned.

"No, but only that you are so brazen as to do something like this deserves some punishment. And then ya choose the same hiding place over and over again. Next time, I'll take that weird thing away from ya I always see ya with if ya do that again."

The boy's eyes narrowed and he growled at the Centaurian.

"Don't you dare to take my Walkman away!"

But Yondu was not intimidated. His grin only widened and the mischief began to sparkle even more in his red eyes.

"What do ya want to do against it, kid?" he asked challengingly and he found it extremely amusing to watch how Peter puffed up his cheeks and glared at him, trying desperately to fling a matching answer into his face.

"Otherwise I'll take your stupid arrow away from you!" was the only thing he said and defiantly he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Yondu's face, who still grinned at him.

"Oh really? Ya wanna take my Yaka arrow away from me? I would like to see yer pathetic attempt in trying it, boy."

Instead of a verbal answer, Peter started to look around and search for the arrow, but he didn't find it and when he heard Yondu laugh softly, he growled and glared at him, as he turned his head back and faced the blue man.

"Ya can't even find it, kid."

"Pfft, you'll see. It's certainly where your Ravager clothes are."

And without another word, the boy slipped off Yondu's legs and turned around. As he was about to jump off the bed, two strong arms wrapped around his middle. A startled outcry loosened from his throat, as Yondu picked him up, only to throw him onto the bed a few seconds later and lean over him.

Grinning, the Ravager looked at the boy as he glared at him again and growled a, "Hey! What are you doing?!".

"That, my boy, is a little lesson."

Peter raised an eyebrow questioningly as he asked, "What kind of lesson?"

"Never ever turn yer back on a Ravager. Especially not on me..."

A shiver crept down the boy's back and it didn't get better when Yondu grabbed his wrists and raised his hands over his head. When he got a faint idea of what the Ravager was up to, his lips already twisted into a wide grin and he squirmed like a worm on a hook under him, trying to break free, but he couldn't.

"Oh, ya think that's funny? And how do you like that? That's funny too?"

Yondu took one of his hands away, holding the boy down with only one hand now and using his free hand to tickle his side.

"Or maybe that?"

The hand moved on to his belly and the Ravager had to laugh himself, as Peter squealed and squirmed so much under his nimble fingers that he managed to free his hands. But that didn't help him much, because Yondu was taller and far stronger than he was and so the Centaurian just let him go and used both hands to tickle him and he couldn't help but chuckle himself, when he watched the boy and how he rolled from one side to the other, laughing louder and louder as he did so. He tried to grab his hands and push them away from his body, but he just couldn't make it and whenever he wanted to kick Yondu, he dodged the attack and kept going. Until Peter could feel how tears of laughter gathered in his eyes and until he started begging for mercy.

Only then did Yondu let go of him and withdrew from him.

Again, a small laugh crept out of his throat as the boy, still giggling, curled up into a ball, pulling his legs against his body, wrapping his arms around his upper body to protect it from further tickle attacks. It took a while for him to get back to the point where he stopped giggling and rolled over onto his back again. When he opened his eyes, he saw Yondu and how he still grinned down at him.

"Ha, ha, ha...very funny," Peter grumbled with a soft blush on his face and he slowly sat up, stroking his tousled hair out of his face.

"Oh, I think yer little Terran weakness is indeed very funny."

"Terran weakness? As if you weren't ticklish..."

A smug expression appeared on Yondu's face.

"I don't think so, Petey. This only works on you."

"Oh yes? And how do you know that? Until recently, you didn't even know that such a thing existed."

The older man opened his mouth for a suitable answer, but quickly closed it when he didn't know what to say. In principle, the little Terran was right. But of course, Yondu would never say that aloud...

His thoughts came to an abrupt end, when suddenly a weight threw himself against him and forced him down onto his bed. A grunt escaped his throat as he suddenly found himself lying on his back, with Peter straddling his legs. Before he ever got the chance to scold the boy, he already pressed his small fingers into his sides and it happened...absolutely nothing.

Within a few seconds, the roles were reversed, because now it was Peter who grumbled out of frustration and Yondu who sneered at him and to tease the little Terran a bit more, he crossed his arms behind his head and let him continue to try to tickle him.

"See? Told ya: Terran weakness."

"No way! You can feel pain, why not tickling too then?" the boy grumbled and he kept on trying, but with each passing second, in which he got no reaction from the Ravager, he became increasingly frustrated. But he didn't want to give up. He shouldn't forget that Yondu was not a human being and that his body was most likely very different from his own.

Maybe he was too gentle with his tickling?

He pressed his fingers a little harder into Yondu's shirt and into the skin hidden underneath, letting his fingers walk up his sides and over his ribs and even higher, and then, finally, he got a reaction, because the moment his fingers touched the bare skin under Yondu's arms, a strange sound broke from his throat and then everything happened very fast: Yondu's arms came crashing down, only trapping Peter's hands underneath and he looked at the boy, as if he had just had to watch how his entire crew got sacrificed to a hungry space monster.

And Peter?

He began to laugh loudly and full of joy, as he realized what had just happened, which made Yondu growl. Oh, how much he hated having a weakness...especially since it was a weakness he had never known about. And besides...that feeling was strange, almost scary and he didn't like the fact that this tickle thingy worked on him too.

However, Peter didn't seem to see it as serious as he did, because he managed to free his hands and attacked him again. This time, his target was Yondu's belly and before the Ravager could do anything about it, he felt the tickling fingers and how they slipped underneath his white shirt and dug into his blue skin. He didn't understand why he suddenly felt the strong urge to laugh, because he saw nothing amusing about this whole situation. But no matter how hard he tried to fight it, in the end he lost the fight. He started to laugh softly through gritted teeth and tried to push Peter away and when he did so, he quickly rolled onto his side, but the young Terran didn't want to give up so quickly, throwing himself onto his back, leaning over him and digging his fingers again into his belly.

"Ha! I knew it! I knew it would work on you too!" the boy cheered and Yondu would have liked to growl if he wouldn't have been busy with holding his laughing fit back...

That game continued until Yondu had enough of it. He turned onto his back, grabbed Peter's hands and pushed them away from his body.

"Stop Petey, that's enough."

He grumbled as the boy giggled.

"Ya better not tell anyone about this, kid!" he growled as he was able to speak normally again and he narrowed his eyes at him, but that didn't seem to intimidate the boy.

"And what if do it anyways?"

The Ravager growled like a hungry wolf.

"Then I will eat ya!"

And that warning seemed to be working, for Yondu saw how Peter's eyes widened and a little hint of fear was to be seen in them too and yes, he regretted his harsh words immediately, but he couldn't help it. His crew was never allowed to find out that he was vulnerable and weak. No matter what it was about. A weakness was a weakness in his eyes.

In the end Peter assured him that he wouldn't say anything and that it would stay between them. After all, even Yondu had kept his promise to never tell anyone that he also had this "weakness", as he liked to call it. So it was only fair that he would keep his mouth shut too.

After a few more moments, the mood relaxed again and Yondu let go of Peter's hands and sat up, so that the boy slipped off of him.

"Are you still bored?" he asked, grinning at Peter slightly mischievously, to lighten the situation a bit. With success, because the Terran grinned back at him and shook his head.

"Good. Then ya can go back to yer quarters. Sleep a little."

"But I'm not tired."

The blue man sighed and let himself fall back into his pillow again.

"If I had as much energy as you, Petey..."

Peter chuckled, scooted closer to him and looked into his face.

"Hey, Yondu?"

"Hmhm?"

"When will you teach me how to fly an M-ship?"

Well, that question literally came out of the blue and Yondu was so surprised by the sudden change of topic that he blinked several times, before he looked confusedly at Peter.

"You're too young for that, Petey. Before you are ready to fly an M-ship, ya first have to learn how to fight. What use is a ship if ya don't know how to defend yourself against enemies and how to properly use a weapon?"

"Oh come on Yondu. Please~. "

"I'm sorry, kid. But I'll teach ya that when you're old enough. And before I teach ya that, ya must have learned how to fight."

The older man grinned when something had occurred to him.

"How about this: Ya defeat me in a fight and then I think again about teaching ya how to fly one of our ships. How does that sound?"

Peter pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's not fair. You win every training session!"

"The galaxy ain't fair, kid. I know that better than anyone else. But that's life."

The boy didn't reply, even defiantly turning his face away from him.

"Oh come on now. Stop pouting."

Still no answer.

Once again, Yondu sighed and sat up, cracking his knuckles.

"Okay, fine. Round two then..."

The human child's eyes widened and before he even got the chance to escape, the Ravager already lunged at him and the tickle fight started all over again.

And only a few seconds later, Peter was rolling around on the bed again, laughing his little heart out with Yondu chasing after him, laughing himself and tickling him.

He would teach the boy everything he needed to know to survive in space, but there were things he was just too young for and flying an M-ship was clearly one of those things.

But one day he would be ready and Yondu would gladly teach him, just as Stakar had taught him how to fly a spaceship.

But for now, the boy had to learn how to fight and how to use a weapon, because such things were more than important; especially if he wanted to be a Ravager.

Maybe he would introduce him to the use of their standard laser weapons these days and then he would see if Peter was ready for something like that or not.

Yes, that sounded like a good plan...


	8. Chapter 8

_Finally I found some time and motivation to start working on this fic again and now I am back with a new chapter._

 _I have no idea if anyone still reads this story, since I got no feedback or bew followers at all in these past week/months._

 _Well, here is the new chapter. Don't know when the next ones comes though._

 _Enjoy it._

 _And, as always, feedback in the form of a comment is very much appreciated by me and keeps my motivation up, thank you!_

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Yondu wanted to put his plan into action the very next day.

Not that the boy felt so bored that he started a stupidity again…

Besides, it was time to familiarize him with their weapons, for Yondu wouldn't always be by his side and if the boy couldn't defend himself then...he didn't want to finish this thought.

And so he decided to lead Peter into the "belly" of the ship, where they kept most of their weapons. The little Terran didn't know this part of the Eclector yet and Yondu couldn't help but notice how the boy's eyes widened, as they entered the dark corridors.

Silently and with fear in his eyes, Peter followed the Centaurian, who was walking fast and he almost had to run to follow him. He stayed close to him and his eyes went back and forth, staring anxiously into every dark corner they passed. On the way, they met no one else, as if they were the only ones down here.

A thought that Peter didn't like, because down here it was scary and he couldn't help but think of all the horror movies he had secretly watched on television back then, when his mother had already slept soundly. The dark passageway in front of him reminded him of such a movie and he felt how his body started to tremble and he quickened his pace even more to keep up with Yondu and to be close to him, should anything happen.

"Why are we going down here? I know you also have weapons stores upstairs."

Yondu stopped and Peter almost ran into him, if he hadn't slowed down at the right moment. Slowly, the blue man turned around to face him with a stern look, that made the boy shudder.

"Because I ain't want ya to do anything stupid. Not that ya get bored again and ya think ya can break into one of our weapons depots after I showed ya where they are. And I know that ya would never go down here alone. That's why we're down here and not up there. Besides, none of the others needs to know that I teach you how to handle our weapons. And now come. It is not far anymore."

The pirate began to move again and Peter followed him, grumbling and with a slight blush on his cheeks.

Apparently, Yondu was still kinda angry at him for this ventilation duct thingy from yesterday...

After a few more minutes, the two finally reached the weapons depot and Peter was glad to get out of this sinister corridor. But when he saw the actual weapons depot, he didn't know if that was better. But the initial fear quickly turned to fascination, when he saw the many different weapons, hanging on the walls or lay on metal tables. He saw large, unwieldy weapons that even the strongest Ravager could only hold with both hands. He saw all sorts of different handguns. Here and there, knives in different shapes and sizes hung on the wall or lay around on the tables. Here and there he saw a belt with odd little orbs on it and he was tempted to reach his hand out and touch one of the orbs, but Yondu stopped him from doing so.

"Don't t touch these! Unless you want to explode."

Immediately Peter pulled his hand back and also stepped away from the table on which the belt was lying.

Booby traps...great...

He preferred to stand in the doorway, watching Yondu gather some smaller weapons together. As he turned around and came towards him again, Peter quickly backed out of the armory and watched the other silently, as he locked the door to the armory again.

"Come with me."

He led him to another room that was near the armory.

The room was big and dark. The neon light flickered slightly, giving the whole room an eerie atmosphere and Peter felt how goosebumps rose on his skin. And it didn't get better when Yondu closed the door behind him.

The Centaurian moved toward a metal table, dropped his weapons on it and then he took two chairs and motioned Peter to sit on one of them, which the boy did without hesitation. Yondu sat down next to him and looked at him sternly.

"Ya have to be aware that guns ain't toys and it's no fun killing anyone with them."

"And something like this coming from the mouth of a pirate..."

"Just because I'm a pirate doesn't mean that I enjoy killing others."

"I wouldn't be so sure about the rest of your crew."

"Most of my crew is scum from the galaxy, there's no doubt about that. But I'm not like that, Kraglin is not like that, Tullk is not and some others are not like that either. Just because we're pirates doesn't mean we're all sadistic bastards."

"But I learned something different on my home planet."

"You've never met a real pirate, just read yer weird books. This, Peter, is the real life and not one of your stories. And the real life can be mean and unfair, ya have to be aware of that. In order to survive in the galaxy, ya have to be smarter than yer enemies and ya have to learn how to handle weapons. That's why it's time for ya to learn that. And I think you're old enough for this lesson."

After Yondu had finished, he grabbed one of the smaller weapons and held it out to the boy so that he could look at it from all sides.

"This is one of our standard weapons. Easy to use and extremely helpful in an emergency case. Many Ravagers carry such a thing with them, hidden under their clothes, so that the enemy doesn't see them immediately."

Carefully, Peter took the gun and frowned thoughtfully.

"How does it work?"

"It is actually quite simple…"

Yondu explained how to use this weapon and how to disassemble it to clean it and how to wear it on his body. To show this to the boy, he took a small leather belt from one of the hooks attached to the wall and put it around his hips. Then he hooked in the handgun on the side of his hip.

"That's how ya wear them. This way, ya can quickly get to them in an emergency case and ya can stow them away just as quickly, because ya just have to hook them in here and you'll have yer hands free again."

"That's pretty cool. How do you fire them?"

"That, kid, is another lesson for later. First of all, ya show me what ya have just learned. If you want to carry such a weapon, then ya have to know it inside out, and it also includes being able to look after it and reassemble it after you have cleaned it. Come on. Show me how that works."

This task wasn't very easy and here and there Yondu had to help him, but the Centaurian couldn't help but be surprised how fast the little Terran learned. Within a few minutes, he managed to disassemble and reassemble the weapon. Of course he made minor mistakes from time to time, but that wasn't really bad, and whenever Yondu showed him how to do it right, the boy memorized it. Yondu had him disassemble and reassemble the weapon several times. Until Peter could do it without making any mistakes anymore.

"Very good, kid. Looks like we got a true natural talent here."

Peter blushed with so much praise.

"Thanks..." he murmured, still slightly embarrassed and he returned the gun and belt to Yondu, who grinned and put them back onto the metallic table. Then he reached for a small knife and held it out to the boy, so he could look at this weapon closely and he couldn't help raising a brow in question.

"What?" the older man asked.

"Why do you use knives?"

"Why do we use knives? Because even the best weapons in the galaxy can break or have flaws when it matters. And sometimes you'll be dealing with enemies that are so fast that ya don't get the slightest chance of loading yer weapon. A simple knife can save yer life then."

Again he pulled out some kind of belt, which he tied around the boy's thigh this time. On the belt was a small leather bag attached, in which the knife could be stowed.

"That way ya can quickly grab the knife in an emergency case. Of course ya can also wear it on yer hip, or on yer upper body, if ya want that. The main thing is that ya can grab it fast enough."

"Do you wear something like that with you too?"

The Ravager grinned.

"I carry something much better with me," he said and as he spoke, he flipped his coat back a little to show Peter the Yaka arrow he always carried with him.

"I don't need knives, kid. A whistle is enough and all my enemies are history within seconds."

"Come on, Yondu. Not even you can react that fast."

"Oh no? Shall I prove the contrary to ya?"

"Yes!"

"Fine. Try to pull the knife out of the holster. As fast as you can."

The boy looked at him seriously and as fast as he could, he reached for the knife that was still in the leather halter that hung around his thigh, but he didn't even get the chance to touch the handle of the knife, when Yondu already whistled. The arrow shot into the direction of his face so fast that it nearly blew Peter off his chair and he quickly grabbed the back of the chair to not fall to the ground and a soft shriek escaped him, as the Yaka arrow stopped just millimeters from his throat and hovered in the air in front of him.

"And you're dead, Petey."

The dark words made the boy shudder and only slowly did he seem to regain his composure. Only when Yondu whistled again and when the deadly arrow disappeared from his throat, he dared to move again and sit back straight on the chair. His heart was still racing in his chest, beating so hard against his ribs so that he was afraid they might break under the weight and he felt his body tremble slightly.

When he turned his eyes to the Ravager, Yondu saw the fear in them, but to his surprise, said fear quickly changed into something else, giving way to a very different expression.

"Wow...that was so cool!"

Yes, the words confused Yondu, because so far no one had ever said such a thing to him.

Okay, how could they? He had never spared one of them yet...

"Could I control the arrow as well?"

This question tore Yondu from his thoughts and he blinked several times, before realizing what the boy had just asked him.

"What?"

"Can I control the arrow as well?"

The boy seemed to be serious with this question.

For a moment, the pirate seemed to wonder if this was possible, because no one had ever asked him such a weird question before.

"Hmm, I'm not sure if that would be so easy. Ya would need a head fin to control the arrow."

"A what?"

"A head fin. The thing I wear on my head."

To show Peter what he meant, he bent his head down so far, that the boy had a good view of the fin and Peter couldn't restrain his curiosity, stretched out his hand and touched it.

"Is this thing connected to your brain?" he wanted to know and his eyes lit up with excitement, as he looked at the red fin from all sides. He had never been able to do that before.

"Yes, it is. Why do you ask?"

The kid shuddered and pulled his hand away.

"So that means you have to implant something into my brain so I can control your arrow?"

Yondu grinned and his eyes took on an eerie sparkle.

"Aye."

"Then I don't want to be able to control the arrow anymore."

The Ravager laughed and shook his head, as he put the arrow back into the leather bag that was attached to his belt. He still wore that grin on his face as he raised his head again and looked at Peter.

"It's not that bad. Come here."

Peter didn't really know if he should trust him, especially when he grinned at him like that. He knew Yondu long enough now and knew that he was always planning something, but what kind of miserable pirate would he be if he was scared of his own Captain?

Although...many pirates in the books he had read on Earth had also been scared of their Captain...

But before he could change his mind, Yondu grabbed him, took his head in a headlock and pressed the knuckles of his other hand into his head and gave him a noogie.

"We just have to make a small cut here and we can implant you a head fin as well. Wouldn't that be something, Petey?" he teased, not stopping with the noogie, which Peter commented with a laugh. He tried to free himself from his strong grip and at the same time to push his hand away from his head, but he just couldn't make it, because he wasn't strong enough.

"Yondu, stop it! That hurts!"

"Make me!"

Instead of answering, Peter bumped his elbow not very gently into his stomach, which surprised Yondu so much that he let go of the boy, who, still giggling, rescued himself behind his chair and brushing his now tussled hair out of his eyes.

"And you call me unfair? _That_ was unfair, kid. Damn unfair!" the Ravager grumbled, as he rubbed the sore spot on his stomach, where Peter had just hit him. Still, his lips twisted into a toothy grin again.

"But what kind of pirates we would be, if we were to fight fairly?"

Peter chuckled.

"No really good pirates, right?"

"Damn right, Petey. We would be miserable pirates!" Yondu answered and he stood up from his chair. As he passed the Terran, he ruffled his hair again, smiled at the sound of Peter's giggles and then moved slowly toward a metal cupboard.

Peter watched him curiously, but didn't dare to follow him, in fear he would get another noogie from him.

"Come on, Petey. I have a little surprise for ya here."

Ah yes, a surprise.

Peter was well acquainted with Yondu's "surprises".

But still...he was curious and something in the Ravager's voice told him he was serious, so he slowly walked up to him, trying to peer into the closet, but couldn't see anything, because Yondu was standing right in front of it and thus blocked his view.

When he turned back around, Peter raised an eyebrow questioningly, as he saw how Yondu was hiding something behind his back and grinning at him again.

He had considered his next words well and yes, he thought Peter was ready.

"How about we two look out for some adventures in the galaxy? Just you and me. What do you say, Petey?"

It took Peter a moment to understand the spoken words.

Was Yondu really serious?

"For real?"

"Yes, kid. Ya showed me today that ya know how to handle our weapons, so we can move on to Phase Two of the practice lesson. That doesn't work here, on the ship. For that we have to look for a planet where we won't be disturbed."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I can't let ya try out the guns here and risk ya shooting a hole into mah ship, right?"

An excited sparkled appeared in Peter's eyes and this time his heartbeat quickened with joy.

"Are you serious? I'm allowed to leave the ship?"

"If ya think you are ready for that..."

"Yes! Yes I am!"

The captain's grin widened and without further comments, he pulled out a bundle of clothes behind his back and threw it to Peter, who picked up the bundle out of pure reflex. He eyed it curiously and as he unfolded it, he could hardly believe his eyes, because he held the typical Ravager clothes in his hands. A pair of dark red pants and a long sleeved shirt and then exactly in his size.

And something in him told him that Yondu had planned the whole thing, because why else would he have stored those clothes right here?

"Are they really for me?"

"Well, for whom else? Yer clothes look weird and are impractical. Besides, ya want to be one of us, right? So dress like one of us!"

Peter could hardly believe it.

Often he had annoyed Yondu that he too wanted to wear the typical Ravager clothes, but over and over again the Centaurian had told him that he was not ready for that yet and that he had to show him first, that he was ready to wear the Ravagers' clothes.

Apparently he was ready now...but...something was missing.

"Where is the coat?"

And Yondu couldn't hold back his laughter anymore.

"I knew ya would ask me that question, boy," he grinned.

"Ya won't get the coat until ya become a full member of the Ravagers. Not earlier."

"What do I have to do for that?"

"Oh, you'll know that when the time comes. But that time is still far away. First of all, ya will show me how well ya can handle our weapons. Come on, let's go upstairs again. You change yer clothes and I'll get one of our ships ready."

"What? You mean...we will be flying to a planet today?"

"Aye. Unless you are too scared and want to stay here..."

That was a clear provocation, Peter knew that, but he ignored it, grabbed Yondu's hand instead and dragged him back to the door.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

And Yondu could only laugh and shake his head, as he followed the boy and only a little later they had stepped out of the door and disappeared in the dark corridor...


	9. Chapter 9

_Well, I have decided to keep updating this fic, because I have already written so many chapters and it would be a waste to not post them, so here is a brand new chapter and I hope those few people, who still read this story (at least I hope anybody is still reading it), will enjoy it._

 _I don't think that I will finish the whole story, but I have written 18 chapters already in german and I plan to share them all. Not sure if I will ever find back to my motivation to keep writing and finishing this story. I hardly have readers for it and this is anything but motivating, so please don't expect much from me._

 _ _ **And as always:  
I would appreciate feedback in the form of a comment very much.  
**By commenting, you show me your interest and comments are the bigges motivation for me to keep going,  
so please don't be shy and let me know what you think about this story, thank you!__

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

When the big door opened in front of him, Peter hardly dared to believe his eyes when he stepped into the huge hall, where some of the M-ships were hanging from the ceiling.

He had heard a lot about the Ravager's spaceships, but he had never seen any of them before.

They hadn't even let him near one of the rescue pods, let alone near any of the M-ships. The fact that he was allowed to fly in one of them today was like the icing on the perfect cake and Peter could feel how his stomach started to tingle with anticipation. He wanted to run straight towards one of the ships, but Yondu stopped him and looked at him sternly.

"Ya stay close to me, boy. I don't want you to go out on yer own, do you understand?"

Embarrassed, Peter turned his face away from him and mumbled an "Aye, Captain" into his nonexistent beard. But he couldn't help being so excited. All this was new to him and he could barely wait to explore the galaxy.

"Good boy. Wait here for a moment, I'll be right back."

And with that, Yondu turned around and headed for one of the control desks.

While Peter waited for him to come back, he let his eyes wander through the huge hangar. The M-ships were huge and he hadn't expected that. He had expected a small shuttle; like the ones they used as rescue pods, but not like that. And how damn cool these ships looked like. Like a giant metal bird of prey and probably it was something like that, considering that space pirates were flying in them through the galaxy, causing fear and terror.

He flinched when Yondu suddenly stood at his side again and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I clarified everything. We just have to pick one of the ships and then we can go. So Petey, which ship do ya want?"

Was he serious?

He was allowed to choose the ship?

Yondu smiled at the excited twinkle in Peter's eyes and waited patiently for Peter to pick one of the ships.

And he didn't have to wait that long, because Peter had already seen one of the ships in which he wanted to fly. It was hanging a bit off the other ships and had a very different color than the rest of the M-ships. This one had an orange/blue color at the front, while the others had a more dark red coloration. This ship was so different from all the others and somehow this ship reminded him of himself, because he was also so different from the other Ravagers and therefore he thought this ship would fit perfectly with him.

"I would pick this ship over there, if this is okay."

He pointed at it and Yondu followed his finger and laughed.

"The Milano? Seriously?"

"Why? What is wrong with that?"

"Nothing, we just haven't used it for a very long time, ya know? It's technique is a bit old. Nothing bad, but over time we've just gained better ships. Are ya sure that ya want this one?"

The boy thought about it for a moment, but his decision had long since been made.

"Yes. I want this one."

"All right, the Milano then."

The two made their way over to the ship and Yondu could only roll his eyes when Peter could no longer hide his anticipation from him and when he was practically bouncing with excitement.

Children…

But somehow it also made him proud to see Peter so excited, because the boy showed him that he was no longer scared. Not like when he first got him aboard the Eclector. And the boy also didn't see the Milano for the first time, because Yondu had used this ship to pick up Peter, when they had first met. But apparently he didn't seem to remember that and maybe that was better for all of them. Yondu would definitely be wary of saying something...

The M-ship was uncoupled from the brackets and just minutes later, the access hatch also opened and Yondu and Peter entered.

"Maybe it's a bit dusty, so don't be surprised about that," he said as he stepped inside the ship and Peter followed him. His eyes widened and it seemed as if he wasn't able to speak anymore, for no more words came over his lips, as he looked around the pretty big spaceship.

How huge it was in here!

"Wow! You can even live in here!" he exclaimed, when he had found back to his voice.

He heard Yondu laugh softly, as he was about to put their bags onto a metal table.

"In principle, ya could travel around the galaxy with such a ship and call it yer home, because here ya have everything ya need. There are many who live in their spaceships. We're basically doing the same thing, Petey. The Eclector is our home."

"But the Eclector is gigantic and not as fast as a small ship...isn't it?"

"Hmm, ya may be right. But it never gets boring on the Eclector. And ya don't feel crowded there either."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you think ya could travel all alone through the galaxy? No, kid. If ya want to live in such a ship, ya need a crew to take care of everything with ya. Just imagine you are being attacked. Ya can't fly and use the weapons at the same time. Ya need someone else for that. Besides, who wants to travel alone through the galaxy all his life?"

"Sometimes being alone is not so bad..."

Yondu turned to him, startled slightly as he saw a touch of melancholy in Peter's face. Slowly he walked up to him, kneeling down so he could face him. He put a hand on his head and gently stroked his short hair and smiled lightly at him.

"Sometimes that's not bad, but being alone forever? Don't ya think that would be too boring at some point?"

The boy answered him with a small smile on his own.

"I guess it is…"

"See? But luckily you're not alone. You've got us."

For a moment, Peter shrouded himself in silence, seemed to think about those words, before he looked seriously at the other's face.

"Why did you abduct me from earth back then?"

Yes, this question came as a surprise and Yondu didn't know what to answer.

He couldn't tell him the truth, but he didn't really know what he could tell him as an excuse.

"Maybe because I just felt like it?" he replied instead and he gave the Terran a crooked grin and before he could ask any more awkward questions, he got up and decided to go back to his bags, which he had placed on a small metal table, which was not far away from him and which was connected to the wall.

Peter looked confused after him, but he decided not to go further into the topic. He could see that Yondu was uncomfortable with the subject and kept avoiding it, and Peter didn't know why he was doing that. There surely was a reason why he had abducted him, but he just couldn't get it out of him; no matter how many times he asked him. Also Kraglin and all the other Ravagers kept quiet about this topic and it also seemed to him that they too didn't know why Yondu had abducted and kept him.

But he didn't want to think about it anymore and spoil this special day.

The excitement returned quickly, just as the twinkle returned to his eyes as he decided to explore the Milano for a while.

"Yondu?"

"Hmm?"

"May I look around?"

"Aye."

The sparkle in his eyes grew stronger and the boy decided to walk past Yondu and into the adjoining room.

"Wow. That is sooo cool!" he said, as he stood in a small sleeping quarters. A small bed was embedded in the wall. A small table was also in the room, which was also connected to the wall. There was even a small closet where he could stow his stuff. In fact, Yondu was right about what he'd said to him: you could really live in this spaceship and travel through the galaxy. Just the idea made his stomach tingle in anticipation.

"If ya want, then ya can have this room. We will be traveling for some time. Here you can store yer things and rest when ya get tired."

"Really?"

The Centaurian laughed softly.

"Really. Put your things down and when you're done, we'll go up and fly off."

As fast as Peter took off his backpack and threw it onto the bed, Yondu could hardly look and he couldn't help but laugh again.

Only a few minutes later, Peter stood next to him and the two made their way up to the bridge of the ship. As they walked up the small metal staircase, Peter turned around once more when he heard a noise coming from the hatch, which now closed and locked behind them.

He still couldn't quite believe that all this really happened, that Yondu really took him on a journey to a planet he didn't know. He trusted him and that made Peter incredibly proud. Above all, when he looked down at himself and saw the Ravager clothes, which he now proudly wore and which Yondu had specially made for him. He had even given him some boots earlier that even fit him. Although they were a little too big, but he had assured the Centaurian, that that was all right and that he would still grow into them anyway. He loved those clothes the way they were and didn't want to change anything about them. Yondu had just shaken his head, but when Peter had looked closely, he thought he saw a small, amused grin on his face...

He shook his head to get these thoughts out of his head, because now he just wanted to focus on what would happen next and so he stormed almost up the stairs and went to the command bridge.

It was as impressive as the rest of the ship and Peter's eyes lit up again as he looked out of the large window, which would provide an outstanding view of the universe once they were on the move.

Yondu was already standing next to the pilot's chair, gesturing for him to sit in the copilot's chair, which stood directly next to the pilot's chair. Behind the two chairs were two more, for the rest of the crew, but today only he and Yondu would fly in that ship and Peter was also happy about this, because he didn't want to share this day with the others, if he was honest.

As he sat down on the copilot chair, his stomach began to tingle again and he could hardly concentrate on Yondu's words when he tried to explain everything to him and quickly gave it up after some moments, because Peter didn't listen to him either way. Instead, he strapped him down, then sat on the pilot's chair and pressed a button fastened to a small speech module beside his head. Shortly crackling sounds came out of the speaker, before Kraglin's voice was heard.

"Open the hatch, Kraglin. We are ready."

Moments later, the huge hatch opened, leading directly out into space.

Now it got serious...

The view was already breathtaking and Peter felt his heart pounding hard against his ribs. He glanced away from the vast expanse of space, looked over at Yondu, who was pressing a few buttons and pulling down some switches on the control panel. Lights were flashing everywhere and in front of him and Yondu there were suddenly plasma screens that showed all sorts of confusing things. The ship's turbines went up and the sound was enough for Peter to get goosebumps all over his body. He felt the vibration of the powerful turbines all over his body and without him noticing it, his hands clawed at the seat belts that held him in the copilot chair.

"Are ya scared?"

Yondu's voice cut almost like a sword through the sound of the turbines and Peter looked at him and he shook his head no.

"Good, because that's only the beginning," the Ravager answered with a big grin and he strapped himself to his chair before placing his hand on a lever that was attached to the armrest of the chair. Gently and slowly, he pushed the lever a little forward and Peter felt how the ship slowly rose into the air.

Once again Yondu gave him a wide grin.

"Hold on tight, kid..."

He didn't say more, when he pushed the lever forward.

The engines howled and the spaceship shot almost like a torpedo out of the hangar of the Eclector, before plunging into the vastness of the galaxy.

And took Peter's excited screams with it...


	10. Chapter 10

_I already said this on my german and dA FF accounts and I have also written it down on my account Bio on here  
(but knowing that hardly anyone ever reads this!), I will say it here also:  
I won't finish this story, because I have given up on all of my writing._

 _It just demotivates me when hardly a person reads what I write, translate and post, let alone leave me some feedback to show me that they are reading it and that they have sincere interest in it. I am not interested in writing and translation my stuff for such a silent community and that is why I have given up on all of my writing now once and for all._

 _I will only share what's already translated or finished and translated one-shots and when I am done with this, I will turn my back on writing forever._

 _I have given my so called followers so many chances to change, they never did, still ignore me and what I upload, never listen to my words, some even dared to insult me and treat me like a piece of shit and now I am DONE with this disrespectful behavior! I have better things to do in my life than wasting my time in doing all of this hard work for such a disrespectful "community"._

 _I am sorry for those very few people who showed sincere interest in my writing. I apprecited every single comment you send to me and I also would like to thank you for all the nice chats we have had here or on dA :)._

 _But my motivation to keep going is totally gone now. Say thank you to those silent people or those who insulted me for daring to ask for feedback. As if this would be a freaking crime or something!_

 _Anyway, have fun with reading this chapter._

 _I don't know when I will upload the next chapter, for my real life has become very busy, due to a new work I just started._

 _And now have fun._

* * *

To answer some comment here:

 **paradise dazzleshine:**  
I have given up on my writing once and for all now and I am not interested to do all of this hard work of translating if only one or two people read it, I am sorry.

 **Thisisafakename:**  
Thank you very much. I am glad that you like my writing :).

 **FrostheIceDragon:**  
Vielen Dank für deinen Kommentar ;). And google translate did a pretty good job hehe. I am happy to see that you like my writing and that you like this GOTG FF. Oh and by that way: I don't need google translate to translate comments I get. I am able to read english and even write stories in english without the help of a translater. I only use the translator when I don't know a certain word, just to clarify this ;). My english is far from perfect, but I hope you guys can still read it and I hope you guys know what I mean with the stuff I post XD.

 **Guest:**  
Thank you. As I said: I will post what's already finished and translated, but I am not interested in keep working on the fics I started, including this story. I still have the feeling that hardly anyone reads this and that's why I am not interested anymore in finishing it, I am sorry. If hardly a person shows interest in what I am doing, then it just feels like a waste of time for me to work on this stuff.

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

It took a while for Peter to get used to the conditions of the Milano.

The fast pace of the spaceship had surprised him and overtaxed his body and at first he had thought that his breakfast would jump out of his throat any second, but he had managed to keep it in. Also the sudden pressure difference didn't do him any good and although Yondu had been able to balance it quickly, it still cracked in his ears, when he swallowed. But he was sure that this would soon be gone again.

He still felt his heart pounding fast in his chest and adrenaline rushed through his veins. His stomach tingled and his brain was slow to process all this new information, because it was just too many at a time.

The Milano, Yondu, who traveled with him, the infinite vastness of space, the sound of powerful machines and engines that worked non-stop, the fact that he would soon walk on another planet and be the only human on Earth, who had the honor to do something like this...

It was all too much for him and for a moment he closed his eyes, trying to calm down and at the same time getting his heartbeat under control again.

"Is everything alright with you, Petey?" he heard Yondu ask and if he listened carefully, he could hear real concern in his voice and when he opened his eyes and looked at him, this assumption was confirmed, because he could see it in his eyes that he really worried about him.

He took a deep breath again, then nodded, silently telling him that everything was alright with him and he was only supposed to give him a few minutes to get used to all of this. He even felt Yondu slow down a bit to make sure the pressure would lighten up a bit. Yondu himself didn't mind the journey in such a spaceship, but when it came to Peter it was different and he knew that he had to take it slowly. A Terran's body was so different from that of a Centaurian and much more fragile. And Peter was still a child and therefore more sensitive to all of this stuff. Therefore, he had decided to take away some thrust and slow the pace.

"You don't have to fly slower...it's all right," the boy said and sat back straight.

"I think it's better when we slow things down a bit, kid. I don't know how yer body reacts otherwise if I just keep the tempo up. Plus, ya can look at everything in peace then."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Once we're on course, I'll turn on the autopilot and show ya the rest of the ship. After all, we will be here for a while. It will take one or two Terran days to reach the planet which I want to show ya. I mean, we could reach it within a few jumps, but I'm not sure if that's such a good idea."

"Jumps? What jumps?"

"Space jumps."

"What is that?"

"Well, that's hard to explain. I type in the coordinates of our planet here on this screen and there are jump portals that we use to get to our destination in minutes, if not seconds. That's what we call space jumps. But they put a lot of strain on the body, especially when too many follow at once. More than fifty space jumps would hurt yer body. And since I don't know how you react, I thought we were flying the old-fashioned way. Which will take some time. And as long as it takes to reach this planet, we can pass the time here, in which I show ya everything and explain it to ya."

Peter shook his head and Yondu then raised one of his eyebrows questioningly.

"What?"

"Do you know what people on my planet would give to be able to travel this way through the galaxy?"

"But why, Petey? Can't your species do that?"

"Of course not. It was hard enough to get to the moon."

"The moon? Your Terran Moon?"

"Yes."

A big grin spread across Yondu's face, making Peter growl.

"What's so funny about that?"

"The fact that it is a highlight for ya Terrans to fly to the moon. If only these Terrans knew what was going on in the galaxy..."

"Maybe they will one day."

"Hmm maybe...like in a million years hahaha."

"Very funny! Just make fun of my planet! Yours is certainly not better!"

"Don't be so sure, Petey. At least my planet was more advanced than yours."

"Was?"

"Yeah, I heard it was destroyed, but I have no idea if there's any truth in that rumor. I don't care. I didn't mean to ever return to my home planet anyway."

"Are there any others like you out there? I mean, have you ever met another?"

"Other Centaurians? To be honest: no. But I've never really paid attention, ya know? Maybe there are others like me out there, but maybe not and I'm the last survivor of my kind. I wouldn't care. "

He was certainly lying and did care about this; Peter could see that clearly in his eyes and how he looked gloomy out of the window, but he didn't say anything and preferred not to talk about the subject any more. Instead, his gaze went out into the seemingly infinite universe and his eyes lit up.

"May I unbuckle my seatbelt?"

"Aye."

A smile crossed the boy's face and he unbuckled his seatbelt, only to stand in front of the window, from where he had an even better view of the stars. He heard Yondu press a few buttons and then he unbuckled himself from his seatbelt and seconds later he stood beside Peter and the two stared silently out the large window.

"I wish Mom could see this..."

The words came over Peter's lips, before he could keep himself from uttering them out loud and as soon as he realized what he had just said, a veil of melancholy darkened his features and also the sparkle disappeared from his eyes.

Yondu looked at him silently, before his gaze returned to the stars.

"Do ya know what they tell each other in the galaxy, Peter?"

The boy shook his head.

"No."

He looked at Yondu, but the Ravager didn't look back at him, but continued to look out the window.

"They say that, when a being dies, his or her soul wanders to the stars and lives on there. Forever. The body may have passed, but the soul is not. It will be one with the galaxy again."

He turned his head to him and looked at the boy with a soft smile on his lips, before he knelt down to him and put his hand gently onto his head and stroked his fingers through his short hair.

"When you look into the stars, think of your mother. She is always with ya, even if ya may not see her."

And it was this one sentence that brought tears to the boy's eyes and before Yondu could say another word, Peter had already thrown himself around his neck and pressed himself against him. The Ravager was surprised, hadn't expected such a strong reaction and still he didn't know how to deal with such a situation and he didn't even want to start from the feelings that flowed through his body. Still, he returned the hug, albeit timidly.

No one could tell how long the two remained in this position. It could have been seconds, but also hours, or even days.

Yondu finally cleared his throat and stood up quickly, gently pushing Peter away from him, who wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled at him slightly and that was just too much for the otherwise so cold pirate to handle, because he cleared his throat once again and turned his back on the boy.

"Come on, kid. No more sentimentalism. Let's explore the ship a bit..."

A small grin creeped onto the child's features and once more he wiped the remaining tears from his eyes.

"You're not as evil as you always pretend to be, aren't you?"

"Pfft, don't be silly, boy. Ya have no idea how evil I can be."

"Maybe...but not now."

Slowly, very slowly, the Ravager turned around and grinned gloomily at the boy and he slowly started to walk towards him.

"Shall I prove the contrary to ya?"

"I'm not scared of you!"

"Oh no? Aren't ya? If ya ain't scared of me, why do ya back away from me then?"

"I don't do that!"

But as he uttered those words, his legs already crashed against the captain's chair and with a soft shriek, he plopped down onto the chair. Yondu was over him in seconds, building himself up in front of him, his hands propped on the armrests of the chair, his eyes so intimidating that Peter was getting smaller and smaller in the chair.

"Not scared, huh? Sure, Petey. I can totally see that right now."

"Alright, alright! I give up! You win..."

"Good boy."

Peter grunted softly.

"Don't play like this. Everyone would be scared of an alien!"

"Hey! Who do you call alien here?!"

Now it was Peter's turn to grin.

"You!"

The Ravager Captain narrowed his eyes threateningly, but Peter could see that he wasn't serious and that he was just kidding.

Even if Yondu had an admittedly strange kind of humor ...

"For me, you're the alien here, Petey!" he said, pinching the boy's sides, causing him to giggle, before the pirate got back into an upright position and grinned down at him.

"And since we have clarified that now, I can finally show ya the rest of ship. Come on. Get up."

Yondu didn't even wait for him, but turned around and headed for the stairs, leading down from the bridge to the lower section of the Milano.

Peter quickly jumped down from the captain's chair, but he didn't immediately follow Yondu.

Before he did so, he paused for a moment, turning his head once more to the window to look at the stars and recalling Yondu's words he had said about his mother.

A small smile appeared on Peter's face, as his gaze went into the stars and only Yondu's voice ripped him out of his thoughts as it came from the bottom of the spaceship and called out to him.

One last time, Peter looked at the stars, before turning around and walking down the stairs to explore the rest of the Milano together with his mentor...


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry for the late update.

It's just that I don't come online that often anymore, for not much is happening on my accounts.  
And thus I hardly find motivation to keep updating my fics.

Anyway, I have some good news for those few people who enjoy this fic, for I managed to finish the whole thing a few weeks ago.  
In the last chapter I said that I am not sure if I will ever finish it, but since I don't like having another unfinished story lying around here I decided to collect my last bit of creativity and finished the story.

Sadly I couldn't write down everything I wanted to, because I just lack the motivation to do so and thus I gave the story a pretty quick end, but I still like how it came out. You will see what I mean once I posted it. The story now has 19 chapters + epilogue. So 9 more chapters to come for you ;).

A big thank you goes out to those few people who still comment here and who still give me a reason to update this fic.  
You are not many, but appreciate your support so much.

I wish more people would be like you.

* * *

 **To answer a few comments:**

 **paradise dazzleshine:**  
Yeah it's also sad for me that one of my most favorite hobbies got destroyed.  
I don't even write stories for myself anymore, because the fun for it has been totally destroyed.  
I don't even want to update most of my stories on here, because I see that no one has interest in them anymore.  
Best example is my Venom one shot collection. The only "interest" I got recently was fake interest -.-.  
At the moment I don't even know if I want to continue updating this collection or not.  
I mean there are still a lot of Venom stories which I love and which I would love to share,  
but then I see that as good as nobody has interest in them and then I ask myself: Why should you do it then?  
It's sad to see that the readers, an author has, don't even WANT to change anything.  
If they would simply start showing the author that they read their stuff and maybe even enjoy what they are reading then everything would change.  
But no, instead of doing that they stay quiet, don't comment, don't bother to change anything and some even insult you.  
This whole Fanfiction community has become pathetic if you ask me...

 **Guest1:**  
Thank you very much. I am glad you enjoyed the update :)

 **Guest 2:**  
Thank you so much for your kind words, that means so much to me :).  
I definitely enjoy my new job. Just this week I have been in cinema with one of my co-workers to watch the Joker with her.  
Was an amazing evening :3. I am so happy that I have found this work.  
I am also happy to see that some of my stories gave you inspiration :3.

 **Thisisafakename:**  
Like I said: I don't write anymore; not even for myself, for the fun of writing has been totally destroyed for me.  
What once was one of my most favorite hobbies, just feels like a waste of time for me nowadays and that's why I don't do it anymore.  
I only concentrate on my nature photography from now on or play video games or read a good book when I have some time to do so.  
But I don't write anymore. But it makes me happy to see that you and some others still enjoy what I upload here :)  
I mean if only one person would show interest I would keep updating, but I see so many fics of mine that get ignored over and over again.  
And the worst thing is when people fake their interest. I send them the link to my story and then I hear nothing from them anymore.  
This hurts me so, so much. I honestly already thinking of deleting those stories that gets ignored the most, for I see no reason to keep them up.  
But then...I don't now what to do. I only know one thing for sure: Those people will NEVER change their behavior and I am sorry for all the new  
authors on this or on other websites. I can imagine the heavy disappointment they will feel when uploading stories nobody cares for...  
That's why I stopped. I just don't want this anymore. I am still active here, but I am more active in writing comments myself, by reading other  
people's works. That's all. Just because I stopped writing, doesn't meant that I have stopped enjoying what others write and post here ;).

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

In his first "night" on the Milano (Peter preferred to call it a night, because he had grown tired and gone to bed), the boy hardly got any sleep. Restless, he rolled around in his generous bed, trying to fall asleep, which he just couldn't do.

Something always stopped him from falling asleep.

Sometimes it was the spaceship's turbines that kept him from sleeping, since he could focus only on that sound. Or it was terrible thoughts that sneaked into his mind and made him see images that he wished would never come true. Pictures of a Milano, surrounded by enemies. Pictures of a Milano, that exploded. Pictures of him and Yondu, as they both floated helplessly around in space and died a very painful dead...

Yondu had assured him that they didn't have to worry about something like that and that the autopilot could fly for them, because in this part of the galaxy, you hardly ever met anyone else, as this part of the galaxy seemed to be of little interest, because there were hardly habitable planets here, but still...Peter was scared. And the fact that Yondu had previously put one of those weird, transparent spacesuits into his pocket, just in case, as he had said, didn't make it any better for him.

But he tried to trust him.

Yondu had shown and explained everything to him and he had also explained to him what would happen if the sensors were to spot another ship, no matter how small. All alarms would switch on, which would wake half the Kree Empire, as he had said. Peter didn't know what he meant by that, but it sounded like the ship was well prepared if another ship approached. And besides, the Milano had a generous arsenal of weapons on board...

Still, he didn't like the idea of a computer flying for them, while he and Yondu lay in their beds and slept peacefully, and yes, Peter was glad when they finally landed on the planet that Yondu was about to show him and when he had solid ground under his feet again...

And in fact, it didn't take that long until the destination of their journey came into view, because the very next day, they reached the solar system of the planet.

And Peter was amazed when they approached the planet, which was surrounded by a mighty sun and three moons. The planet was earth-like, with one major difference: there was not nearly as much water on this planet as on Earth. Earth wasn't named as the blue planet for nothing. This planet here was anything but blue. There was much more land mass than water and Peter gave Yondu a slightly anxious look.

"What's wrong, kid? Scared?"

"Are you sure that's safe?"

The elder laughed softly and pressed some buttons and Peter heard how the turbines of the Milano howled.

"Don't worry, Petey. There is enough oxygen for both of us on this planet..."

Before Peter even had a chance to answer, Yondu pushed the control unit forward and the boy screamed, as the spaceship went into an almost perpendicular position. Like an arrow, they darted down, heading straight for the planet and the young Terran thought all of his organs were being pressed into his head. His fingers tightened tightly around the seat belts that held him strapped down to the copilot chair, his knuckles turned white and his eyes were wide with fear, as they moved toward the planet at a maddening pace.

"Yondu! We are way too fast!"

"We ain't too fast. Don't worry so much about that kid and enjoy the ride."

A huge jolt went through the Milano, as the spaceship entered the atmosphere of the planet. They broke through a white cloud cover and then finally the surface of the planet came into sight. An infinite forest stretched right below them and Yondu yanked the control unit back up, so they could fly over the forest. He also throttled the thrusters, so they slowed down and Peter relaxed noticeably and his fingers finally loosened their grip around the safety belts, which he still clutched tightly.

"Now all we have to do is find a suitable place to land and then you will be the first of your kind to walk on a completely different planet. Well, how does that feel like, Pete?"

"Strange..." was all that Peter could say and when Yondu looked at him, he could no longer keep his laughter to himself.

The boy had lost all color in his face and looked like a ghost...

Even later, when they finally found a suitable place to land, Peter didn't feel much better. Yondu couldn't get this broad grin off of his face anymore, when Peter had stormed out of the spaceship as soon as they had landed and he had disappeared behind the nearest bush, where he had gotten rid of his breakfast.

"What a historic moment. That must be immortalized in yer planet's history books, Petey," Yondu teased, as he came back to him, still holding his stomach, as he cramped. He didn't know how many times he had vomited, but he was sure that there couldn't be anything left in his stomach.

Still, he managed to throw a dark look at his mentor, as he dropped down beside him in the grass and lay down on his back. Only now did he really realize where he was. How many light-years away was he from his planet? And he was lying here, breathing oxygen as if it were the most normal thing in the world...no...the most normal thing in the whole galaxy, and maybe that was for many of its inhabitants, but not for him. His eyes wandered around excitedly and although he saw only trees, he couldn't help but feel a great reverence for this planet. This planet was so different from earth and yet it looked like his home planet. But the oxygen he breathed here was purer and fresher than the one he had inhaled on Earth. The grass under his hands felt different when he reached in. Almost like fur. The trees, too, looked different when he looked closely and seemed a lot bigger than the trees that existed on earth.

"Looks like you like it here, huh?"

Yondu's sudden voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he winced, before turning his head into his direction and looked at him. The Centaurian grinned at him again.

"What's so funny?" Peter asked, grumbling.

"I think I'll never forget that landing ever again."

The boy felt how his cheeks heat up, as he blushed and quickly turned away from Yondu's face, who commented this reaction with an amused laugh.

"Seriously, Petey. I have never seen anyone leaving a spaceship as fast as you did in my entire life. Not even the greediest pirate would rush out of a spaceship at the prospect of fat loot. And you did everything wrong, which you could only do wrong. Luckily, this planet is uninhabited. But well, if it hadn't been that way, then I wouldn't have opened the hatch and would have dragged ya to the toilet instead."

"Stop it!" Peter growled, his face now looking as if it would explode with embarrassment any second.

"Aren't we here, because you wanted to teach me something?" he grumbled, sitting up and without looking at Yondu. But he could still feel his grin on his body.

"We are indeed here so ya can learn how to be a pirate, but today we don't do anything anymore. We stay here, relax and get used to the climate of this planet. And if ya feel better tomorrow, we'll start with the first lesson. Sounds like a good plan, right?"

Peter was about to say something when it cracked in the undergrowth and a strange sound came to his ears that sounded like a growl. As he turned his head into the direction the sound had come from, his eyes went rigid with shock. Forgetting all the pain in his stomach, he jumped up and stumbled back, quickly hiding behind Yondu, who had also got up. But the pirate didn't look alarmed at all, but rather amused. Peter didn't understand this reaction and didn't care about it at that moment, because at that very moment, something broke out of the undergrowth and headed straight towards them.

It was a small creature, moving swiftly and skillfully on two small, thin legs. On the back it carried a long bone crest. A long tail balanced the creature perfectly. It was only a few inches tall, but Peter was so scared of it, that he quickly hid behind Yondu and clawed at his coat.

"What's this? Didn't you say this planet is uninhabited?"

"Calm down, Peter. That's just an Orloni. They don't do anything to anyone. Ya can find them almost everywhere in the galaxy. Totally harmless."

"Harmless? They have fangs!"

"But only very small fangs."

"And that should calm me down?"

"Now don't be like that. I thought ya want to be a Ravager? A Ravager ain't scared of an Orloni."

"Oh come on, Yondu, as if you weren't scared of something like that when you saw it for the first time!"

"The first thing I saw were Kree soldiers who put me in an arena to fight for their amusement. You can't really compare that to an Orloni. And now come on, let go of my coat and sit down again. If ya don't pay attention to the little guy, it will disappear by itself."

Peter hesitated for a moment, but then decided that Yondu was right and he had to overcome his fear. He would really be a lousy Ravager if he was scared of such a little creature. But it was easier said than done to stay calm, because as soon as he had sat down in the grass, the Orloni was back and approached him quickly, which made Peter squeak and quickly he scooted away from him and crashed into Yondu's body, who only rolled his eyes. But he looked at the spectacle silently and with a little grin on his lips and didn't think to scare the Orloni away. No. Peter was about to gradually get to know the universe and all the creatures that lived there and such an Orloni was the perfect beginning for it. In addition, these little creatures could be found almost everywhere. The rats of the galaxy, that's what some called them. They were totally harmless and perfect for someone who had yet to get to know the galaxy and all its inhabitants.

Well not all inhabitants, because there were creatures in the galaxy from which Yondu wanted to keep Peter away at any cost...

Meanwhile, Peter tried to calm down and in fact he managed to do so a bit, as the Orloni stopped and looked at him curiously. Slowly, very slowly, he came closer, but as soon as he noticed that Peter was scared of him, he stopped and cocked his head.

"See? He doesn't want to harm ya. He's just curious," he heard Yondu say and his voice sounded much softer than before. And he seemed to be right with his words, for the Orloni didn't look as if he wanted to attack them. He just watched them and came closer step by step and Peter eventually found the courage to stretch his hand out, albeit very hesitantly, to the little creature who gladly accepted the invitation. It approached his hand and Peter was already pulling it away again, but Yondu stopped him from doing so, as he grabbed his arm and held it outstretched, so Peter had to touch the Orloni. Carefully the little creature nudged his hand, sniffed on it and then rubbed his head on it and it was this small gesture that broke the ice and Peter relaxed more and more. When Yondu released his arm, Peter even went so far as to pet the little creature, which started to make purring noises.

The moment lasted for a few minutes, before it was over as quickly as it had come, for when the Orloni had had enough, he disappeared with a squeaking sound in the undergrowth of the forest.

"See? That wasn't too bad, was it?"

There was a small smile on Peter's lips as he pulled his hand back to him, shaking his head.

"No. That wasn't bad..."

As the night slowly settled over the planet and wrapped everything in darkness, Yondu had already built a small campfire, over which he fried a few things that he had brought from the Eclector and that would serve as dinner.

They sat behind the entry hatch of the Milano, which also gave them light with their many lights and headlamps. The hatch was open so they could quickly get on board and disappear in an emergency case, but Yondu had serious doubts that this would happen. But he wanted to be on the safe side. He didn't want to risk anything. Especially not when a child was around...

Peter had completely relaxed after the Orloni encounter, but Yondu didn't want him exploring the area alone, so he always kept an eye on him and called him back when the boy moved a little too far away from the campfire. Eventually, Peter sat next to him and scooted closer to the fire, as it had become colder, as night fell over this side of the planet.

Silently, he stared into the flames and bit into the piece of meat that Yondu had handed him and he was lost in his own thoughts. Still, it wasn't easy for him to process all this. He had experienced so many new things in such a short time. He didn't know how to deal with this flood of information and it made his head ache. But on the other hand, there was still that childlike excitement in him and the urge to adventure was stronger than ever. And he couldn't help but feel a wave of pride, as he remembered that he was the only human on earth to experience such an adventure...and also by the side of a real pirate!

But when he turned his eyes to said pirate, he looked no longer so piratey to him. His eyes were half-closed and Yondu looked like he was about to fall over and fall asleep here and now. And Peter couldn't help but giggle softly at that, which of course immediately brought him the attention of the Centaurian, who looked at him tiredly, but with a raised eyebrow.

"What's so funny?"

"You're funny."

"Why?"

"Just look at you: You look like you're about to fall over."

"I'll get tired, too, Petey. I always wonder where ya get all this energy from."

"I am also much younger than you."

"What does that mean? Are you saying that I'm old?"

The boy grinned cheekily.

"Perhaps?"

"Pfft please. You better not underestimate me, my boy. There are powers in me that ya don't even suspect."

"Yeah, I can totally see those powers right now."

"Tomorrow I like to convince you of the opposite. But for today we let it be, okay? How about we go to bed?"

"I'm not tired yet."

"Oh man…"

Yes, children could be really exhausting...


	12. Chapter 12

And the next chapter.

Updates will be pretty slow now, since real life has become super busy for me.  
Especially my work has become super busy and when I come home, I am usually so tired  
that I just want to sleep and I don't want to re-read my stories and looking for mistakes before I can upload the next one.  
Thank you for understanding.

I hope you enjoy this chapter though^^.

* * *

 **As for GuestyGuest:**  
I appreciate your kind words, but I have to disappoint you. I have given up on all my writing months ago and I don't want to start writing ever again. It's not the insults, that made me stop writing (I don't care for this kind of stuff that much), but it's because of how a writer gets treated nowadays. We get ignored most of the time and same goes for our stories. I have given this community so many chances in recent years, but nothing has changed. On the contrary, for it got worse and worse with every new year (for example: all my other writer accouts are dead now) and thus I don't want to upload my stuff anymore, let alone write AND translate all of this, so they can read it, because this just feels a big waste of time when nobody shows me interest in my writing. I am just not interested in spending so much time and so much hard work for nothing. My so called followers don't even do anything to motivate me to keep going, except for a very tiny hand full of people who are still sincere interested in my work (some of the others even insulted me badly for simply asking for feedback and I know they are still talking bad about me behind my back on other websites like tumblr). And I am sorry to say this, but I don't write AND translate my stuff for like two or three people, since this is way too much work to do (and I am sure none of these people,who talk so badly behind my back now, does know WHAT kind of hard work this is or how long it takes me to translate all of this from german into english! In the end it's just another story they read within minutes on which I spend weeks, if not even MONTHS on to write and translate it!). I don't want this anymore. It's people like that who totally spoiled it for me with their shitty behavior. Writing once was one of my most favorite hobbies, but it got dostroyed thanks to such people and the ongoing silence. As if writing a little bit of feedback would kill them. I only got excuses why they won't comment, but weird thing is: They all have time to read my stuff, but they don't have time to comment? Or they only have time to "comment" when sending me insults? Yeah right. Seriously, I am SO sick of this. That's why I decided to stop. And I don't plan to start writing ever again. Sorry.

 **GiuliaComix**  
Thank you very much for your kind words, my dear :)  
And also a big thank you for all the support you have given me, for you seem to be the only one who is REALLY interested in this story.  
Thank you for that :). To be honest: You were the only reason why I decided to translate the rest of this story^^

 **Thisisafakename  
** First off: Thank you so, so much for the kind feedback you have been sending me :3  
Not only here, but also on my Supernatura and Venom FF collection. That really means a lot to me.  
I am going to answer these comments of yours too, when I upload a new chapter.  
Let me know if you still have interest in my Venom stories though, for I wanted to abandon this collection too.  
You are the only one who shows interest in it now. The others stay silent, like always and this makes me feel like  
nobody likes these stories anymore or that they just lost interest and if there is no interest  
I don't post updates anymore. So please, let me know.  
Also a big thank you for the compliment :3. Nature photography is actually my biggest hobby. I spend many, many hours  
with it when I have the time to do so. Sadly time is something I don't have at the moment, for my work has become super  
busy (we have to prepare the orders for christmas already). But I hope I can start with it again, once spring has arrived^^.  
I miss going out and taking photos *sighs*.  
Again big thank you to you for your support and for being so kind to me :3. **  
**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Actually, Yondu had long since wanted to go to bed and wanted to sleep, but in the end he had let himself be softened by Peter and stayed with him for a while.

And now he was sitting here, still with a sleepy expression on his face, his head propped on one hand, his red eyes staring into the fire, while Peter sat next to him, gesturing wildly with his arms, telling him one story after another.

Stories of nefarious pirates sailing across Earth's oceans, spreading fear and terror. And yes, at that moment Yondu had to think of his first mate Kraglin, because he had told him not so long ago that Peter suddenly started telling him these stories and didn't want to stop. Yondu had just grinned and had told him not to be such a wimp. After all, Peter was still a child and he should be glad that he finally started to feel comfortable around them and felt well after all this time. But now that he himself was affected, he doubted his own words. Especially since he just wanted to sleep now. He didn't want to hear stories of earth pirates who, in his opinion, were total wimps anyway.

Why the hell would a pirate be drunk all the time?

Or why in the name of the galaxy should a pirate bury his booty on an island and then leave it where anyone could fetch it?

Peter assured him that the stories of Captain Flint and Treasure Island was just pure fiction and that real pirates probably had been different back then, as in the stories and books his mother had read to him when he was younger, but Yondu doubted that. There was a spark of truth in every story. You only had to search long enough to find the truth.

But all he wanted now was his peace and a good portion of sleep.

But still...it also made him happy and a little bit proud that Peter felt so comfortable in his presence and also in Kraglin's, that he told them these stories. And how excited he was. Now he behaved at last, as a child should behave, even if that was more exhausting for Yondu than he wanted to admit it.

But remembering how scared the boy had been after he'd gotten him aboard the Eclector, or when he told him about the little translators which they had implanted him so he could understand them and to speak to them...the fear in his eyes had spoken volumes and he had panicked, imagining that a strange, non-human being had been fiddling with his brain. Yondu couldn't blame him, because he hadn't felt any different when he had gotten his own translator. And the Kree hadn't been as gentle to him then as he had been to Peter...

But the boy had gotten used to it quickly and at some point he just thought it was "cool" that he could now talk to everybody and understand all inhabits of the galaxy and he didn't find the translator scary anymore.

He was still scared of the rest of the crew though.

No wonder, as mean as they were against him and even Yondu couldn't help but feel a little shame when he thought back to how he had treated him and from time to time he still threatened to eat him. Of course he didn't mean it seriously, just meant it as fun, but as terrified as Peter always looked at him, he didn't seem to understand that kind of "fun".

Maybe he should change that at times?

But how?

That was probably one of the few questions he probably wouldn't find an answer to and at the moment he didn't care. He just wanted one thing: his peace!

But Peter talked and talked and talked...like a damn waterfall!

First it was the pirates he told him about, then it was things he had done on earth with his friends or his mother and then it was the food he had eaten on earth and which he now terribly missed. In Yondu's ears, terran food just sounded strange.

He still wondered what a pizza or what chocolate was...

Finally, and when he couldn't take it anymore, he simply took Peter into a headlock, which startled him so much that he shrieked.

"Hey! Yondu! Let me go! What are you doing?!" he complained, as the Ravager rubbed his knuckles over his head and grinned at him.

"Where's the off switch on you, Petey? I can't stand it anymore!" he teased.

"You're such a spoilsport!" the boy said, laughing and he tried to free himself from the strong grip and only managed to do so, as Yondu deliberately loosened his grip a little, so Peter fell back into the grass.

"I'm not a spoilsport. For hours ya tell me these stories. I'm just tired, Pete. Let's go to sleep."

"Oh, come on, it's so nice here. Just a little bit longer."

"No."

"Please Yondu~."

And there it was again: that damn look that could soften even the heart of the galaxy's toughest pirate.

Yondu growled, fought inwardly with his ego and he just wanted to grab Peter and carry him to the Milano, but he couldn't bring this over his not so cold heart. He saw so much excitement in those children's eyes that he just couldn't help himself and gave in.

"Alright. Fine. But only an hour more! Then we go to bed. No argument!" he growled resignedly and even as he spoke, he dropped back into the soft grass and crossed his arms behind his head.

Peter answered him with the widest smile he had ever seen, got up and disappeared in the Milano for a moment and Yondu thought he had changed his mind, but it wasn't long before Peter came back to him. In his hands he held this weird thing, which he had often seen him with and what he called "Walkman". He lay down next to him, placing the walkman's headphones in the center of their heads, pressing a button and Yondu winced as these strange sounds came out of the headphones.

Earth music, as Peter explained to him.

"I often did that with my mom. We lay down on a meadow and watched the clouds in the sky."

"What's so interesting about clouds?"

Peter grimaced and poked Yondu in the side.

"If you have a little imagination, clouds can be great."

"But there are no clouds here."

"But there are stars..."

Then Yondu remembered what he had said to Peter about the stars, and a small smile crept over his face, as his eyes wandered back to the starry night sky.

"I've never seen so many stars in the sky before..." he heard Peter say softly.

"Maybe that's because there are no annoying lights here, Petey. There are far too many lights on your planet that will take away the view to the stars. There is no such thing here."

"It's wonderful…"

"Yes, it is, little one..."

The two lay there in silence for a long time, listening to the music and staring at the stars, each seeming to be caught in their own thoughts.

"Yondu, look! A shooting star!"

Yondu winced in shock as Peter's excited voice suddenly broke the silence and he thought something bad would happen, but as he looked back into the starry sky, he saw a small comet passing the night sky, pulling a small stream of light behind him and he relaxed immediately.

No enemy ship...

"That's just a piece of rock flying past here."

"On Earth, we call it a shooting star and whenever you see one, you have to close your eyes and wish for something. But you aren't allowed to voice the wish aloud. Otherwise it won't come true."

Yondu could only shake his head.

"Ya Terrans are really weird..." he murmured and then there was silence between the two of them, as they turned their eyes back to the stars, listening to the music...

At some point, the music also stopped playing when the cassette had gone through and Yondu turned his head to Peter and was amazed when he saw the boy lying next to him with his eyes closed. He was completely relaxed, his chest rose and fell gently, showing him that he had finally fallen asleep. No wonder, for he had experienced and processed a lot and this seemed to have taken its toll now. The adrenaline had left his body, had given way to fatigue and Yondu was grateful for finally having a little rest. He turned on his side, propped his head in one hand and watched the boy for a while, before standing up slowly, first taking the Walkman and tucking it into his pocket. After that, he put out the campfire and gently took Peter on his arm and carried him to the Milano, where he took him to his room and to bed. He set the Walkman on a small table not far from the bed, anchored in the floor, so it wouldn't slide back and forth when the spaceship was in motion.

He pulled the boy's boots off his feet and then covered him with the blanket. He paused for a moment, watching him for a few more moments, then turned around and disappeared from the room.

He closed the hatch of the Milano and turned off the outer lights so that only a soft glow inside the ship showed him his way to his own room.

He quickly freed himself from his Ravager clothes, threw them carelessly into the next best corner and then went, dressed only in his underwear, to his bed.

A comforting sigh left his lips as his head finally dropped down onto the soft pillow and he snuggled into his blanket.

But despite everything, it was hard for him to find sleep that night, because his thoughts kept coming back to Peter over and over again.

The boy didn't have it easy in his life and if Yondu was honest, he reminded him a little bit of himself. He himself had experienced many bad things. And there was something to which he even envied Peter: the love of a family. He had never experienced anything like that, didn't know what a mother's love felt like. He only knew hate and pain and nothing else. At least that was the way it had been before he met Peter.

Although...when he thought back to Stakar...

No! He definitely didn't want to think about him now, so his thoughts quickly returned to the little terran.

There was something about the boy that intrigued him and it seemed to change him slowly but surely. Something that he wasn't supposed to like, but he himself noticed how he tried less and less to fight against this feeling.

The feeling, of being someone who protected, raised and gave this child what he believed he would never ever experience in his own life: sincere, fatherly love...

He shook his head, but that thought didn't want to let him go that night.

And so he just gave in and fell asleep with exactly that thought in his head.

And that night, a small but sincere smile stole itself onto his lips, which persisted even after he fell asleep...


	13. Chapter 13

I am back with a new chapter.  
It takes me some time to update my fics and that's simply because I don't use the internet much right now and I am still pretty exhausted and I am also ill at the moment and this simply sucks, for my 30th birthday is coming up in a few days and I don't wanna stay in bed and...it just sucks -.-.

But anyways, here is a new chapter and I hope you guys will enjoy it.

And since this is the last chapter, which I upload this year, I wanna wish those few people who are reading this story, a great start into the New Year :).

* * *

To answer a few comments:

 **Acinorev17  
** Thank you very much. Glad that you liked it :)

 **GiuliaComix  
** Thank so much, my dear, glad that you liked it :3  
Papa Yondu is just so sweet. There will definitely be more moments like these in the future, I can assure you ;)

 **Thisisafakename  
** Thank you very much. I am so glad that you still like this and my other stories :) **  
**And if you still have interest, then I will keep updating my Venom collection.  
So far you are the only one who shows interest in those stories of mine. Nobody else wants to read those stories anymore.  
That's why I have stopped updating my collection, but if at least one person shows sincere interest I might start updating again^^.  
I would have the perfect story for the new year anyway ;)  
And I am so sorry for you and I can totally feel your pain.  
Do you now know why I stopped writing? It makes no sense to write for such a silent community.  
It not only feels like a waste of time when nobody seems to read it and stays silent, but also like a kick right into my a**.  
That's why I've stopped. And I don't blame anyone here who wants to stop as well due to lack of feedback.  
I have been writing for fandoms since 2007 and I think you can imagine how bad it feels when your "followers" stays silent now.  
It hurts. It really, really hurts, but since people don't give a damn about this, my only option was to stop and I don't regret it.  
I feel much better now, that I have stopped. Sometimes I still would have some ideas for new stories, but I don't write them down.  
Not even for me. I just imagine it inside my head *lol*. After 12 years, I am finally done with writing... **  
**But I am so grateful for people like you, who still take some time to let the author know what they think.  
So a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig thank you to you and the few others who still send me comments.  
You people are the light in the dark for us writers :) **  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

When the sun rose slowly over the treetops the next morning, Peter was already wide awake. He sat on the pilot's chair of the Milano and watched the sunrise. A small smile was on his lips. It almost felt like he was back on earth...as if he was back home...

The forest, the reddish glow of the sky and the clouds, as the sun slowly rose; it all reminded him of his old home and he couldn't help, but missing earth at that moment. But on the other hand, he still found it incredibly exciting to be on a planet that looked like earth, but was yet so different.

The light of the rising sun was quite different here than the sunlight that had warmed earth. The trees looked differently, the rest of the plants as well and of the animals, the Orlonis, he didn't even want to begin with. Even the air he breathed here was different, purer, fresher, and he liked that; a lot.

If only his mother would be here with him now and could see that...

Almost immediately, the smile faded from his lips and a sigh broke through the silence that prevailed in the spaceship and which had come from him. He often thought of his mother, often thought back to the happy moments they had spent together and yes, some days these thoughts were hard to bear. But today, the thought of his mother wasn't that bad. Not after what Yondu had told him about the stars and soul of every deceased person. The thought was beautiful and comforting at the same time and whenever Peter looked into the stars, he thought about his mother being there and watching over him...

Before tears could rise in his eyes, he preferred to focus his thoughts on something else. He thought of Yondu and how different he had become since they traveled alone through the galaxy. It was almost as if he had met two different Yondus. One was an asshole, the other a kind-hearted Centaurian, which was trying to do better than all the other Ravagers and Peter liked him best when he was acting like that. But he also understood why Yondu couldn't show this soft side in front of the other Ravagers, because they would most likely kill him and take command, if they would find even the slightest weakness in their Captain.

Therefore, Peter had to come to terms with the fact that Yondu was only nice to him when they were alone. And so he hoped that they would stay on this planet for a while, because here he had Yondu for himself. He loved spending time with him when he was so meek, always eagerly listening to his stories, explaining everything to him. And sometimes, just sometimes, Peter felt like he finally had a father by his side.

The father he never had...

The boy shook his head.

What was he thinking?

Yondu? His father?

This thought was so ridiculous...at least Peter tried to persuade himself that this was a damn ridiculous thought. But he couldn't and whenever he thought of it, his lips twisted into a small smile and secretly he liked the idea of having a father figure like Yondu in his life.

After all, who else could claim to have a real _pirate_ as a father?

A thought that made Peter grin and he thought back to all the terrible people who had bullied him so badly on Earth. Would they still do that if he returned with Yondu and introduced them to all of them as his "father"?

He was sure that none of these bullies would even dare to say a word in front of Yondu!

When he thought about Yondu...was he already awake?

A question that Peter has been asking himself for some time now, but so far he hadn't found the courage to enter the room of the Centaurian. But slowly it got boring to constantly staring out the window and admiring this strange world from far away. He wanted to explore this new world and he wanted to know what Yondu wanted to teach him, to make him a Ravager.

But to learn all that, his mentor finally had to get out of his bed!

Should he wake him up when he was still asleep?

A small grin crept over Peter's face at that thought and it was decided that he would check if Yondu was awake or not, so he didn't wait until his courage left him and got up and walked over to Yondu's room.

Once there, he took a deep breath, gathered his courage and then opened the door, which opened with a soft sound when he pressed the switch that should open it. As he entered the dim room, his eyes first had to get used to the darkness that prevailed in the small room. Only a small lamp, set into the wall on the other side of the room, gave him light, revealing a large body that was still lying in the bed and didn't move. Not even when Peter entered the room quietly.

Yondu was lying in his bed, his back facing the boy and he still didn't seem to move. At least that's how it looked like to Peter and again there was that little grin on his face. He would just jump onto the bed and jump onto Yondu and wake him up, because if he remembered correctly, the Centaurian had never been very gentle whenever he had to wake him up. In this way, Peter could take revenge for this nastiness.

But as soon as he got closer to the bed, the grin disappeared from his face and his plan turned into dust, for when he caught a glimpse of Yondu, he saw the pirate tremble. His fingers had clawed into his blanket, which had slid down to his waist and here and there his body winced and a soft, tormented sound came over his lips that almost sounded like a whimper.

Apparently a bad dream...

What did Yondu dream at night?

In any case, nothing good, because his reactions were just talking volumes.

Peter knew of his terrible past and even now, through the faint light, he could see the long scars that stretched over his shoulder and arm and where his undershirt had slightly ridden up, he could see scars at his side and the lower part of his back, which looked really bad and the boy didn't want to imagine _what_ was responsible for those scars. The scars looked as if they had been torn into his body by giant claws...

"Yondu? Hey, Yondu? Are you awake?"

Peter knew that this question was completely superfluous, as he could see that Yondu wasn't awake, but the words came over his lips as if by themselves and he even dared to put a hand on the Ravager's shoulder. He shook it, careful not to touch the scars. But he hardly got a response. Yondu's fingers just clawed deeper into his blanket and again a whimper left his throat. Sounds, which he had never heard of him like this before and Peter was sure that no one had ever seen Yondu as he did now. Not even Kraglin and this guy knew everything about Yondu...

Once more he shook his shoulder, stronger this time.

"Yondu! Wake up!"

Again, it was just a whimper that left the other's lips and slowly Peter got really worried about him. He should wake up, should stop seeing those terrible things his nightmare was showing him and so he shook his shoulder as hard as he could and indeed, this time, he got a reaction, for Yondu slowly turned onto his back and finally seemed to wake up. When Peter saw his face, he saw how his red eyes fluttered open slightly. Still, the Centaurian was breathing heavily and his body was shaking, but at least his fingers loosened from his blanket and when he looked at Peter, he blinked a few times. Apparently he didn't quite understand that he had only had a nightmare, that he was safe and that there was nothing next to him that wanted to hurt him. When he finally recognized the boy, he looked at him confusedly.

"Peter? What's going on?"

Peter almost giggled at the sound of his sleepy voice, if the situation had been different, but still the boy was worried about Yondu.

"You had a nightmare," the human boy answered and finally released Yondu's shoulder and sat on the bed next to him.

They were silent for a while and Yondu didn't dare to look at the Terran.

Peter had seen how weak he was and he didn't like that. Not at all!

He knew that the boy wouldn't say anything, but still...it was enough that he had seen him in this pathetic state.

Nightmares were nothing new to Yondu and yet...he hated them!

They let him experience his darkest hours over and over again, letting him feel the pain he had been subjected to in the battle arenas and labs of the Kree back then and there was nothing he could do about it, for nobody could escape from a nightmare. No. Such a thing haunted someone to the end of his life...

"Are you feeling better?"

Peter's voice ripped him from his thoughts so unexpectedly that he flinched and as he turned his eyes to the boy, he could see the worry in his eyes and he didn't like that either.

Peter shouldn't worry about him.

After all, he was supposed to be a role model to the boy, not a weakling, frightened by a ridiculous nightmare.

And yet...the dream had been pretty bad and he still thought he could feel the pain...

"I'm fine. Don't ya worry about me, kid. "

That this was a clear lie, Peter knew, but he didn't want to go further into this topic, wanted to change the subject and bring Yondu on other thoughts.

But how should he do that?

Instead, he let his eyes wander silently over the Centaurian's body and shuddered, as he saw all the scars that covered his arms, shoulders, and chest. Even where his white shirt had ridden up and showed a part of his side and stomach, he could see scars that began to fade. Whatever he had experienced, Peter couldn't even imagine the amount of agony Yondu must have been at the mercy of.

Did these scars still hurt?

As if Yondu was able to read his thoughts, he raised Peter's chin so that the boy had to look at him and he raised an eyebrow, as Yondu gave him a small, gentle smile.

"It doesn't hurt, kid, don't you worry about me. These are just scars. Memories that will fade one day and nothing more."

Peter knew that Yondu was trying to take everything lightly so he wouldn't worry about him, but when he looked into his red eyes, he could see that the scars still hurt him. Although not physically...

He briefly considered how he managed to defuse the situation a little and then, when something had occurred to him, he smiled back, which made Yondu raise an eyebrow questioningly. Especially when Peter pulled the top of his Ravager clothes up a bit to expose his own side, where the pirate could see a small scar, that had already started to fade.

"I have a scar, too. Do you see it?"

And Yondu couldn't help but grin slightly at this.

He knew why Peter showed him this scar and he appreciated the gesture very much.

"I can see that, kid. Where did ya get it from?" he asked curiously, as he ran his index finger lightly over the scar, causing Peter to giggle, because it tickled.

"I got that at school. There was a kid, a mean kid who was always mean to animals. We fought against each other one day and that's how I got that scar."

Yondu's eyes lit up.

"A little fighter, huh? Interesting…"

He spoke these words more to himself than to Peter, but the boy giggled and a slight blush graced his cheeks.

His mother hadn't been as happy as Yondu was right now...

Before this situation became embarrassing for him, he decided to quickly change the topic. He reached out his forefinger and carefully touched a long scar he could see on Yondu's side.

"Where did you get that from?" he asked curiously.

The Centaurian looked at the spot Peter pointed to, then looked back at him and grinned slightly.

"I got that one from a great and dangerous creature, with sharp claws and even sharper teeth!"

He could see the Terran shuddering at these words and not to frighten him, he went on quickly.

"But don't worry, my boy. I won the fight. The scar is just a fading reminder of that fight and ya know what?"

"What?"

"I wear it with pride! And ya should also wear yer scars with pride, little one, because they show everyone else that you are strong and that no one should mess with ya."

The boy's heart beated a little faster at such words and he indeed felt a wave of pride rushing through his body.

"Thanks," he said and Yondu cleared his throat in embarrassment and turned his face away from him.

No one had ever thanked him before...

But before this situation could become even more embarrassing for him, he felt Peter's fingers again on his body. This time on his upper arm.

"And where did you get that scar from? It looks weird."

A chuckle was the answer and Yondu slowly sat up and gave the Terran a teasing grin.

"Ya mean that little scar over there?"

"Yes. Where did you get it from? From another fight?"

"Oh, yes, Peter. From a very heroic fight."

The boy's eyes lit up and he hung tensely on his lips.

And Yondu's grin grew so wide that small wrinkles appeared in the corners of his eyes.

"What fight?" the boy asked excitedly and Yondu leaned down to him to whisper the answer into his ear; as if he was about to tell him a dark secret.

"From a heroic fight with..." he purposely paused for a more dramatic effect.

"…the stairs!"

Grinning, he pulled back and had to laugh softly when he saw Peter's questioning look.

"Stairs?"

A light red glow covered the cheeks of the Ravager and let it shimmer slightly purple through his blue skin color, which made Peter giggle again. And his giggling quickly turned into amused laughter, as Yondu explained that once he had fell down a staircase in his own spaceship after looking a bit too deep into his glass. They had just fulfilled a great mission and had earned many units and that had to be properly celebrated. Of course, in a Ravager way and he had exaggerated it "a little bit". One thing led to the other and when he wanted to return to his quarters, totally drunk, he hadn't seen the stairs and had promptly fallen down. And that's how he had gotten this small injury on his arm.

A story he had previously told only Kraglin, as he had seen him lying in the corridor later that night.

And as much as Peter was laughing, nobody else should know about this embarrassing story.

It would be better for his dignity...


	14. Chapter 14

I hope it's not too late to wish my readers a very Happy New Year :).

I hope you will like this new chapter :D

One last fluffy chapter, before the real deal starts and before this fic starts to get a little more serious and a little darker even ;)

* * *

And as always, I am answering the comments from the previous chapter :)

 **Guest**  
Thank you very much, I am really happy that you liked this chapter :D  
I had to laugh myself when re-reading the last part of this chapter. Poor Yondu XD.

 **GiuliaComix**  
Oh,thank you so much my dear :3  
And same here. Scars can look pretty good on a man hehe.  
I have some pretty big scars myself from all my surgeries and I am proud of them too,  
for they are a sign that I was stronger than what wanted to kill me.  
*LOL* Now that you mentioned it...that stair part has indeed some Kung Fu Panda vibes XD

 **Thisisafakename**  
Thank you so much. Really happy that you liked this chapter :3  
And also thank you for still showing interest in my other stories.  
I don't write anymore, but I still got a lot of finished stories here which I would like to share ;)  
But I only share them if I see interest in this stuff^^  
And nope, you are not the only one who comes up with scenes in your head.  
Happens to me almost every day :3.  
It wasn't really 12 years of silence. I started writing 12 years ago (now 13 years ago).  
I share my writing online since 2011.  
In the beginning, when I started uploading my english stories  
in 2013, everything was great. I have had many people who liked my stuff and who commented on it.  
Same goes for the german community and without those people, who commented, I would have never been able  
to finish this one super long Transformers fanfiction of mine, which has 93 chapters.  
Comments are not only a sign that people read your stuff, but they can also help you a lot with your longfics.  
But sadly people don't care for this anymore and don't even do anything anymore to motivate a writer.  
That's why I have stopped.  
I hope you had a great start into the New Year and thank you a lot for the birthday wishes :3  
As for your question: OMG yes, do it if you want to :D  
I would feel very honored if someone would draw some fanart based on my stories :3  
Thank you so, so much for the offer :D  
And you can draw whatever you want to :3.  
Do you have a dA accont? You could share it there then or upload it to your dA stash, so only you can see it  
or the person who has the link then :)

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

In the early afternoon, Yondu and Peter were back in the woods; always careful not to move too far away from the Milano, because Yondu wanted to be on the safe side. He didn't believe that there were any enemies on this planet who could harm them, because he had only seen Orlonis here, but his instinct as a pirate made him over-cautious and so he just felt better when he knew that his spaceship wasn't far away from them and ready, so they could flee in an emergency case.

But he hoped an emergency case wouldn't happen...

Shaking his head, he tried to banish those thoughts and focus instead on his real task, because today he wanted to teach Peter to use the weapon he had given him and which was a standard weapon of the Ravagers.

They had already found a perfect place where they could practice undisturbed.

"Here is a good place to practice. Come on, kid. Show me what you've learned."

The boy's eyes lit up with excitement and he quickly grabbed the gun Yondu handed him and showed him that he knew how to handle it. He dismantled the weapon, only to reassemble it afterwards. He described the individual functions to him and assured him that he was ready to lead it. And when he looked into Yondu's face, he could see clearly that even the Ravager thought that he was ready for a gun.

"Well, then show me how ya can deal with it. Stand here. Yes, exactly like that. Lift the weapon. Do ya see the little rock over there? Try to shoot it."

Slowly, the boy raised the gun, trying hard to focus on the target, but quickly he realized that it wasn't even as easy as it had always looked like when the others used their weapons. The weapon weighed heavily in his hand, his arm starting to shake, not being used to that weight and he just couldn't keep the target in focus, let alone hold the gun steady and when he pulled the trigger, he missed the rock by far. Frustration spread in him and he hung his shoulders, as he lowered the gun to look at the result. He couldn't even see where the shot had gone; so far away he had strayed from the goal.

The soft laughter of his Captain tore him from his thoughts and grumbling, he turned his head to him and looked at him, growling.

"Chin up, Petey. No one manages to hit the target at the first try. Be patient. Ya must first familiarize yourself with the weapon. Get used to the weight when ya lift it up. Try to keep yer hand steady and concentrate as ya focus on yer target. Don't be distracted by anything or anyone around ya. Always have yer target in mind and if ya think you're ready, shoot. Come on, let's try it again."

Actually, Peter would have liked to stop now, since the first fail had hit him more than he wanted to admit, but then the stubbornness took over him again and he raised the gun again and tried to focus on his target.

The shot didn't go that far this time, but it was still too far from its target and Peter grunted loudly, as he tried to lower the gun again, but Yondu prevented him from doing so by grabbing his arm and held it up in an extended position.

"Don't give up so fast, kid. Try it again. This time, I'll help ya a little bit."

And Yondu also stood by his word.

He gently gripped Peter's arm, directed the gun into the right position and told Peter how best to aim at the target and then, when everything was in place, Peter pulled the trigger. And this time, the small laser bullet hit the middle of the rock where it left a small, smoking hole.

Pride and joy rushed through Peter's body and a pleased laugh came from his throat, as he turned his head back to Yondu and grinned at him.

"Did you see that?"

The Ravager grinned at him as well and ruffled his hair.

"Oh yes, I saw that. Well done, Petey."

Laughing, the boy tried to push his hand away from his head.

"Do ya want to try it again alone?" the Centaurian asked him as he pulled his hand away from him and there was a challenging sparkle in his eyes that Peter just couldn't resist. He wanted to prove it to Yondu! Wanted to show him that he was worthy of being a real Ravager and so he nodded, got back in position and raised the gun. He remembered Yondu's words and as he raised the gun this time, he was holding it much better than before. His arm no longer trembled, his stance was firm, his concentration was only on the rock in front of him and when he was ready, he pulled the trigger.

The laser bullet hit a hole into the edge of the stone and Peter's heart almost exploded with joy and pride at the same time and when he looked at Yondu it seemed that he felt the same, but he didn't show it as much as the boy did.

"Look at this. We've got a fast learner here, huh? Very good, Peter. You're becoming more and more one of us," he said with a wink and once more he ruffled the boy's short hair.

"Come on, kid. One more time!"

For how long they trained that day, they didn't know later, but the hard training paid off, because Peter was getting better at handling the weapon and when they were about to stop, he hit the rock right in the middle and Yondu even decided to increase the level of difficulty a bit and he took his Yaka arrow as a possible target. Peter was worried at first, because he didn't want to destroy the arrow, but Yondu had assured him with a laugh that hardly anything in the universe was strong enough to even scratch his arrow and that it was perfectly okay if he used his arrow as a target.

And after initial hesitation Peter had even hit the arrow, which made him proud as never before and Yondu was proud of the little Terran as well.

* * *

When the sun had already set, they sat again in front of the Milano and a small campfire and reminisced about the day. Yondu told him how proud he was of him and laughed when Peter's cheeks turned red.

"Will you teach me how to fly an M-ship now?"

Yondu almost choked on his food, as these words came to his ears and he gave Peter a look, which told him that he was definitely not going to teach him how to fly an M-ship.

"You're not ready for that yet, kid. And didn't I say that ya have to defeat me in a fight until I teach ya how to fly one of our ships?"

The grin was practically audible in his voice and Peter grumbled something into his nonexistent beard and poked around in the fire with a stick. He winced when Yondu put his arm around his shoulders.

"Be patient, Peter. Small steps, no big ones."

He had heard that somewhere before.

Hadn't that been the words Kraglin had said in the engine room back then?

Even if he knew that Kraglin and Yondu were right with these words, he had difficulty in patience and he let the Centaurian know that by looking at him defiantly.

"I can fight!"

The Ravager's lips twisted into a broad grin and his eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Oh yes? Do ya have the guts to prove it to me?"

Instead of a verbal answer, Peter simply threw himself on top of him and Yondu was so surprised by this sudden "attack" that he fell backwards with a surprised cry. The branch on which the piece of meat hung, which he had just wanted to eat, fell out of his hand and carelessly to the ground and his arms wrapped around Peter when he hit the ground. The boy freed himself from his grip and straddled his hips, looking at him with a broad grin.

Before the Elder even had the slightest chance to ask what kind of assault this was, Peter attacked him with tickling fingers. At least that's what he was trying to do, but Yondu was far taller and stronger than him, so it was easy for him to grab his hands and push them away from his body. But Peter didn't want to give up so fast. He repeatedly pulled his hands out of his mentor's not so strong grip and tried to tickle him. Soon he found these little places that made even Yondu laugh and it wasn't long before the silence was broken by their joy.

It was rare to see Yondu laugh and hear such merry sounds from him and Peter knew that he only did so since they were alone here. But he didn't bother about it. He enjoyed the moment, enjoyed the attention he received from the Centaurian since they traveled together through the galaxy; without the other Ravagers, making fun of him, mocking him or even threatening him with terrible things like eating him...

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he noticed it way too late how Yondu gained the upper hand in this small and not-so-serious "fight." Seeing that Peter let his guard down, he immediately pressed his fingers into the boy's sides and tickled him back. Startled, Peter squealed and tried to push his hands away from him, but he couldn't do this and soon it was him who fell to the ground, laughing and squirming on the ground, with Yondu leaning over him, trying to get at all those places where he knew that it would make him laugh.

"Look how fast the table can turn, Petey. Rule number one in a fight: Never ever let yer guard down! Ya see, in what it ends..."

The teasing words didn't make it any better, rather worse and in a final desperate attempt to save a little of his dignity, Peter raised his arm and tried to punch Yondu in the stomach, but the elder saw the attack coming and grabbed his hand before it could hurt him.

"Now look at that. We are pretty cheeky today, aren't we? And guess what? I ain't like this at all..."

The older man stopped tickling him briefly, but continued to hold his wrist, as he didn't want Peter to punch him.

"Do ya know what I do to cheeky little Terrans, who don't respect their Captain?"

Peter's stomach tingled and a giggle escaped from his throat and he shook his head with a grin and at the same time tried to slip away from Yondu, as he bent down to him. His blue hands reaching for his sides, holding him to the ground and with a dark grin he looked at him.

"I eat them!"

It was a loud shriek that broke away from Peter's throat, as Yondu leaned down to him fast and began to nibble gently but effectively on his stomach. But he quickly realized that it didn't have the desired effect, because Peter just giggled and tried to push his head away. There was no sign of regret and he wanted to change that. Without further ado, he freed the small belly from the disturbing fabric of his Ravager clothing and repeated the playful attack on the bare skin. And this time it also had the desired effect, because as soon as his lips touched the soft skin, the boy squealed and began to squirm wildly under him, pushing his hands against his head or shoulders. But he couldn't free himself, could only lie there and laugh and had to endure the attack somehow.

And Yondu?

He clearly enjoyed making the little Terran laugh and he often caught himself interrupting his tickle attack for a few seconds because he himself had to laugh so much. Meanwhile, he had also grabbed Peter's wrists and held them pinned next to his head, because the boy had started to hit at him at some point and he didn't want to get hit against his head.

"Are you giving up?" he asked, grinning, but Peter only pressed a loud "No!" through his laughing fit.

All right. Then the hard way...

Peter's eyes widened, as Yondu took a deep breath and before he got the chance to protest, he blew a fat raspberry against his belly, causing him to scream loudly.

The boy had no idea where Yondu had learned that and he just didn't care in this very moment, because he just wanted one thing: that this mean attack would finally stop!

"Okay! Okay! I give up! AHHH! No! Y-Yondu, p-please! Stohohohohop!" he squealed through his loud laughter.

One last time Yondu blew against his stomach, before he let go of him and sat down next to him. Grinning, he watched Peter, who still giggled and curled up in a ball and quickly pulled his clothes back down.

"You are so mean!"

Yondu's grin widened and he poked Peter in the side.

"That's how we Ravagers are. But don't worry, Petey. One day ya will be as mean as we are," he teased.

Peter just stuck his tongue out at him, as he turned back onto his back and sat up again.

"One day I will manage to defeat you and then you will teach me how to fly this ship!"

"Perhaps. But until that happens, ya still have to learn a lot. As I said: Small steps and no big ones."

The Ravager thought for a moment before continuing to speak.

"But I see that you are trying and that you are good with our weapons. You are brave and that is a good feature. And I think you're getting ready to become a true Ravager."

Peter raised an eyebrow in question.

"What do you mean by that?"

The elder grinned and something sparkled in his eyes, which Peter couldn't quite interpret.

"Would ya like being part of a little adventure, Peter?"

The Terrans eyes lit up as he heard these words.

"What kind of adventure?"

"My boys and I pulled something ashore. A small mission to get something from a planet that doesn't have much life and which is near the Andromeda galaxy. I have been there before. The inhabitants of this planet ain't dangerous. There is a building there, but we can't get into it without being discovered. But you, kid...you could get in there undetected by going through the ventilation shafts, avoiding the security systems. Well, how about that? That sounds like an adventure, right?"

Peter could hardly believe what he heard there.

Was Yondu really serious?

Did he really want to take him on one of their raids?

"But, if you are too scared, then..."

"NO! I'm not scared! I'm ready, Yondu!"

"Really?"

"Really!"

There was so much determination in his eyes that Yondu simply couldn't say no. He trusted Peter and he knew this mission was nothing dangerous. The building, with the piece the client wanted, was deserted and Yondu knew that it was only used as a sort of warehouse. The inhabitants of the planet were a primitive, almost stupid species and wouldn't be dangerous either. The building was just a remnant of older space pirate generations and was still used by various raiders as some sort of warehouse; especially as hardly anyone ever traveled through the Andromeda galaxy. And right now there was a very valuable piece in this warehouse which Yondu's client wanted. But none of them would be able to go unnoticed into this building. The security systems were still active. But Peter could come undetected through the ventilation shafts into the building and bypass the security systems. It would be an easy job. He would take Peter to one of the shafts, the boy would go into the building and Yondu would communicate with him via a small plug in his ear and show him the way. As soon as Peter had the booty they would go back again.

A simple job and perfect for a young Ravager who could prove if he was really ready to become a true pirate.

"All right, Petey. Then it is decided. Tomorrow we will fly back to the Eclector and there I will tell ya everything about the job. And then we'll see how brave you really are..."


	15. Chapter 15

I hope you all had a nice Easter?

Mine was calm and I finally found some time to work over this chapter, correct a few mistakes and finally upload it.  
I hope you like this chapter.

It's getting pretty dark from now on, just a little warning ;)

* * *

 **Acinorev17  
** Thank you. I am happy to read that you liked the chapter :)  
It's up to you guys if I post more, for you have to show me your interest.  
No interest = no chapters; simple as that ;)

 **Thisisafakename  
** Thank you a lot :3 Glad that you liked this chapter.  
It's definitely one of my favorites myself.  
I would be happy if you were on dA for sure, for it's much easier  
to stay in contact there (if you want to of course^^). This site here kinda sucks when it comes to  
staying in contact with my readers ^^;.  
Sometimes I feel bad, for I can only reply to comments via PM sometimes  
or in the next chapter.  
This site really needs to change that... **  
**

 **GiuliaComix  
** Oh, thank you so much, sweety :3  
I don't get tired of these two dorks myself :D  
If you are interested: I uploaded a pretty silly story between Yondu and the adult Peter not too long ago.  
It's my newest upload on here. Didn't even know that I wrote this once haha.  
Stories like these makes me miss Yondu even more *sighs*  
As for this story: There will definitely be more, for I wanna upload all chapters if people are interested in it^^  
There are so or so not many chapters left anymore before this story is finished ;).

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

Over and over again, Peter went through the plan in his head, trying to remember everything Yondu had told him before leaving and trying to calm his heartbeat down. But he barely managed to stay still.

They had left the Eclector not too long ago. Yondu and he sat in the Milano along with a few other Ravagers. Everyone was wrapped in silence. Only the sound of the working turbines could be heard, which was broken here and there, as a display on the front of the control console made a sound.

Peter's hands were sweaty with excitement, his heart hammering hard against his ribs, his mouth already dry. This was his chance to prove to Yondu and all the others that he was no longer a feeble child, who was scared of everything and everyone! No! He would show them how brave he was and that he was ready to become one of them!

But the closer they got to their destination, the bigger the excitement grew in him and started to mix with fear, because so far he had been on one planet just to train. The planet he would be on today was something completely different. He couldn't allow himself any mistakes, he had to stay focused and attentive, he wasn't allowed to lose sight of his surroundings for a second. Even if Yondu had assured him a hundred times that this planet was safe.

In the end, it didn't look so safe when they finally reached their destination and were approaching the planet.

The planet looked like it was made up of a desert for the most part and Peter couldn't help but think about Mars, because this planet was as red as Mars had been (if he could have trusted his schoolbooks, because he couldn't really travel to Mars to look for himself). And indeed, the planetary surface consisted mostly of red sand. The entry into the atmosphere was rougher than it was at the last planet and Peter felt his heartbeat accelerate again. And as they headed for the facility, Peter was about to doubt that this was such a clever idea. The moment he saw how gigantic this facility was, he doubted not only his courage but also everything else and an inner voice told him that he wasn't ready for such a mission. But he had to go through it now, because would he backtrack now the others would mock him until the rest of his days.

He tried not to show any of this as the Milano touched down on the sandy ground a little later and the other Ravagers, including Yondu, unbuckled from their safety belts and rose from their seats. The boy jumped as he heard the access hatch opened behind him and a shudder crept down his spine, as cool air brushed his body and gave him goosebumps. There was a strange smell in the air, which he couldn't quite interpret, but he didn't bother about it, because Yondu stood in front of him a little later. With a stern look, he looked at him, motioning him to turn his head sideways so he could stick the little button in his ear with which they would communicate for the whole time.

"Easy, kid. You can do it," he whispered to him, when he was sure that the others were far enough away not to hear him anymore and he gave the human boy a small smile, before he told him to get up and leave the spaceship with him, after checking on his equipment, which consisted of a leather belt, on which a weapon and a small knife hung. Only for emergencies, as Yondu had assured him. Was it making Peter feel better? Not really…

Although the sun was shining high in the sky, it didn't seem to give much warmth to this planet, because Peter had to pull his leather jacket tighter around his body to keep the cool air from crawling under his remaining clothes. Only briefly he managed to look at the environment, as Yondu already gave the order to disengage after he had secured the Milano. Almost immediately, the others drew their weapons. Two of them, Gef and Halfnut, stayed behind to guard the spaceship and stay in touch with Kraglin, who had stayed on the Eclector to replace the Captain. The others, along with their Captain, made their way to the facility, which loomed on the horizon not far from them. Except for a few rocks here and there and the facility, there was nothing else that Peter could see. Only the whisper of the wind reached their ears and the sound of feet, moving over the sand joined this sound. Otherwise, there was an eerie silence on this planet that Peter didn't like and when he peered at Yondu, who was walking beside him, he could see that he, too, seemed tense. His red eyes were focused on the surroundings and he kept everything in his eyes. No wonder, because Peter was sure that he had been part of missions like this thousands of times. He knew what he was doing...

The facility, before which they stood a little later, reminded Peter of a huge warehouse on earth. It was built of metal and he couldn't find an entrance anywhere except for a ventilation duct opening directly above them. The entrance was too small for an adult to climb in and the boy shuddered as he thought about having to get in right there, as two Ravagers were already working on the lattice and picking it up, while the rest of the crew swarmed out and secured the area. Only Tullk and Yondu remained at his side and he felt Tullk gently squeezing his shoulder and when he looked up at him, he smiled at him.

"You don't have to be scared. You go in, get what we need and then come out again. You can do that in less than an hour, do we want to bet?"

The words were meant jokingly, but Peter couldn't laugh about it and just nodded his head. His heart pounded wildly in his chest when he saw the lattice being removed from the ventilation shaft and when the two Ravagers turned around to face him and Yondu did the same. He walked over to him and Peter would have liked to run back to the Milano at that moment, but he pulled himself together, trying not to show his fear, even if he knew that Yondu could see it clearly in his eyes. But he said nothing, knelt down in front of him and put his hand reassuringly onto his shoulder and looked deep into his fear-widened eyes.

"Easy, kid. I will always communicate with ya and tell ya where to go. Here, take this note. There is a picture of the object that we need and that ya need to get for us. Can ya do that?"

For a moment the boy hesitated, but then he took all his courage, looked Yondu in the eyes, and finally nodded his head, as he took the picture of a small metallic device that looked like a triangle from his hand and stored it in his small leather bag.

"Good boy. Are you ready?"

"Yes Yondu, I'm ready."

"Okay, then let's get started."

He led him slowly to the ventilation shaft, helped him up and Peter tried to calm down as he plunged into the darkness. He coughed, as dust was thrown into his face and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the tunnel.

"Can you hear me, Peter?"

He flinched when he heard Yondu's voice so suddenly in his left ear.

"Y-yes, I can hear you," he answered and there was a brief rustling in his ear before Yondu's voice was heard again.

"Excellent. What can ya see?"

"Nothing but darkness."

"Try to crawl on slowly. Ya will encounter an exit in a few meters. The grids are easy to remove as they haven't been secured. So that shouldn't be a problem for ya. When ya get there, you'll call again, alright?"

"Yes, Yondu."

"Good. Remember: We'll take care of ya. Ya can do it, kid!"

Yeah right, Yondu had an easy time saying something like this, since he wasn't stuck in that dark tunnel, shaking with fear!

But Peter was careful not to say those words out loud and kept on crawling instead, because the faster he got to his destination, the faster he would finish this mission and so he set about continuing to crawl.

Unaware that he was about to crawl into his own personal nightmare...


End file.
